On April 14, 2025, Members of the Ukrainian Parliament—members of the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy, D.O. Getmantsev and others—submitted for consideration by the Verkhovna Rada a draft resolution “On Establishing the Deadline for Submission for a Repeated First Reading of the Draft Law of Ukraine on Credit History” (Reg. No. 12260/P1).
This resolution proposes to require the Verkhovna Rada Committee on Finance, Tax, and Customs Policy to finalize the draft Law of Ukraine “On Credit History” (Reg. No. 12260), submitted by People’s Deputy of Ukraine O.M. Vasilevska-Smaglyuk and other People’s Deputies of Ukraine, taking into account the comments and proposals received during its nationwide public discussion, as well as the amendments and proposals from entities with the right of legislative initiative, and to submit it in a revised version to the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine for a repeat first reading no later than 30 days after this Resolution enters into force.
It should be recalled that on February 11, 2025, members of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine did not support the draft law “On Credit History” during its first reading. Instead, for the first time in the history of Ukrainian lawmaking, parliament sent the document for public discussion.
It was expected that the public discussion would last until March 14, 2025, on the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine’s “Public Discussion of Draft Laws” portal, and that after its completion, taking into account the proposals received, the draft law would be submitted for a repeat first reading.
As is known, the “Credit History” bill (Reg. No. 12260) proposed establishing the legal and organizational framework for maintaining credit histories: the collection, processing, storage, protection, and use of information regarding individuals’ fulfillment of financial obligations; the operation of institutions involved in the collection, processing, storage, protection, and use of such information; and the legal framework for state oversight of such activities.
This bill aims to regulate the relationships between the parties involved in credit history—banks, non-bank financial institutions, credit bureaus, and citizens.
Among other things, the bill proposes regulations on key issues concerning:
- the scope of information included in credit histories, the frequency of updates, the retention period for data in credit histories (up to 10 years), and the procedure for their destruction;
- the rights and obligations of data users and providers, particularly regarding the regular updating of information on individuals’ fulfillment of financial obligations.
- the rights of credit history subjects, including the right to access their own credit history and to have it corrected if inaccurate data is included, in particular by the data provider at the request of the credit history subject or by court order; the legal consequences of disseminating information in the credit market regarding a credit history subject’s unwillingness to enter into credit transactions, as a safeguard against potential fraudulent activities.
- the rights of close relatives of credit history subjects to access the credit history of a subject who has gone missing or died (or has been declared deceased).
- a prohibition on the use of information from credit histories by third parties without the consent of the credit history subject, and penalties for violating such prohibitions;
- Procedures for authorizing entities intending to operate as credit bureaus, including requirements regarding their ownership structure, management, and systems for internal control, cybersecurity, and information security.
- A mechanism for the cross-border exchange of data with credit bureaus from partner countries.
- Supervision by the National Bank of Ukraine over credit history activities and compliance with credit history legislation by other credit market participants; in particular, the draft law provides for the right to apply corrective measures and enforcement actions for violations of these requirements.
Given that the main objective of the new draft law “On Credit History” (Reg. No. 12260) is to address the shortcomings of current legislation in this area and strengthen the protection of borrowers’ rights, and taking into account that the adoption of the bill is one of the commitments Ukraine has undertaken toward the IMF, we hope that the comments and suggestions received during the public discussion, as well as the amendments and proposals from entities with the right to initiate legislation, will be taken into account when finalizing the draft Law of Ukraine “On Credit History.”
Authors:
Taras Onishchenko, Attorney at Law, Barristers
Tetyana Borisova, Attorney at Law, Barristers
