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1. Member States shall require that the creditor and the credit intermediary act honestly, fairly, transparently and professionally and take account of the rights and interests of the consumers when carrying out any of the following activities:

(a) manufacturing credit products;

(b) advertising credit products in accordance with Articles 7 and 8;

(c) granting, intermediating or facilitating the granting of credit;

(d) providing advisory services;

(e) providing ancillary services to consumers;

(f) executing a credit agreement. The activities referred to in the first subparagraph, points (c) and (d), shall be based on information about the consumer’s circumstances and any specific requirement communicated by a consumer and on reasonable assumptions about risks to the consumer’s situation throughout the duration of the credit agreement. The activities referred to in the first subparagraph, point (d), shall also be based on the information required under Article 16(3), point (a).

2. Member States shall ensure that the manner in which creditors remunerate their staff and credit intermediaries and the manner in which credit intermediaries remunerate their staff do not impede compliance with the obligation set out in paragraph 1.

3. Member States shall ensure that, when establishing and applying remuneration policies for staff responsible for the assessment of creditworthiness, creditors comply with the following principles in a way and to the extent that is appropriate to their size, internal organisation and the nature, scope and complexity of their activities:

(a) the remuneration policy is consistent with and promotes sound and effective risk management and does not encourage risk-taking that exceeds the level of tolerated risk of the creditor;

(b) the remuneration policy is in line with the business strategy, objectives, values and long-term interests of the creditor, and incorporates measures to avoid conflicts of interest, in particular by providing that remuneration is not contingent on the number or proportion of accepted applications for credit.

4. Member States shall ensure that where creditors or credit intermediaries provide advisory services, the remuneration structure of the staff involved does not prejudice their ability to act in the consumer’s best interest and is not contingent on sales targets. In order to achieve that goal, Member States may also ban commissions paid by the creditor to the credit intermediary.

5. Member States may prohibit or impose restrictions on the payments from a consumer to a creditor or a credit intermediary prior to the conclusion of a credit agreement.