HM Treasury has published a consultation and call for evidence on possible changes to the UK’s Commercial Credit Data Sharing (CCDS) scheme, under which Treasury-designated banks share SME credit information with Treasury-designated credit reference agencies, with customer consent, so other finance providers can assess lending. The review asks whether the regime should be updated to reflect changes in the SME lending market and financial technology, with options covering data quality, reporting timeliness, firm and product scope, and the range of providers that could be brought into the framework. The paper seeks views on moving all participants to a single data format, improving the process for correcting shared data, and tightening submission deadlines from the current 30 day window, with HM Treasury floating a model under which monthly data would be cut at month-end and sent within 14 days. It also asks whether firms should remain in scope after moving above the current GBP 25 million turnover threshold until they have exceeded a higher threshold for a sustained period, whether the group turnover rule should be revised, whether charities and other not-for-profits should be brought into scope, and whether designation should extend beyond banks to other significant finance providers, potentially requiring non-designated participants that access CCDS data to share with all four designated credit reference agencies. Other issues include SME access to credit files, consent for legacy accounts opened before the current regime, possible additions to the dataset such as savings accounts, and removal of low-value products such as stocking loans. HM Treasury said it will assess responses and then consider whether policy changes require amendments to the current statutory framework or can be achieved through other means such as further designations or guidance. The consultation runs until 20 November 2025.
HM Treasury 2025-09-25
HM Treasury launches consultation and call for evidence on UK commercial credit data sharing reforms
HM Treasury has launched a consultation and call for evidence on potential reforms to the UK’s Commercial Credit Data Sharing scheme to reflect changes in the small and medium-sized enterprise lending market and financial technology. Proposals cover data quality, timeliness and format, the scope of firms, products and customers in the regime, the extension of designation beyond banks to other significant finance providers, and possible changes to statutory and non-statutory arrangements.