With less than three months to go before many of the requirements of the National Consumer Credit Protection regime take effect, a number of gaps remain in the scheme's regulatory framework.Gadens Lawyers partner Jon Denovan said the distinction between brokers (who are covered by the regulation) and referrers (who are not) remained unclear, as did the question of what is a reasonable inquiry about the suitability of the loan. The level of oversight licensees would need to give to their credit representatives was another grey area.From July 1 lenders, brokers and anyone else providing credit assistance will have to conduct inquiries to assess whether a loan is unsuitable. They will have to ask about the borrower's requirements and objectives, make inquiries about the borrower's financial situation and take steps to verify the information provided. Speaking at an NCCP seminar this week, Denovan said lenders and brokers would have to record what they do. From January next year borrowers will be able to ask for a copy of the credit assessment document. Denovan said: "People are still asking what is a reasonable inquiry and what form should their reports take."One surprising aspect of the regulatory process is that there are likely to be far fewer licensees than was originally anticipated. This is because aggregator groups and broker franchisors are offering to act as licensee for their brokers, whose role would be credit representatives.The chief executive of the Mortgage & Finance Association of Australia, Phil Naylor, said that a year ago he was predicting there would be 10,000 organisations and individuals applying for Australian Credit Licences. Naylor said: "Now it looks like a much smaller number. For a broker the idea of being a credit representative is appealing because it relieves them of a big job. They still have to meet all the regulatory conditions but they don't have to administer the licence.""Groups like Advantedge are giving brokers the option. Some of the big brokers will get a licence because they will want to be in control of their destiny but we think most will opt to be credit representatives."We don't see any issues for brokers if they take that option."Denovan said the relationship between licensee and credit representative was not yet clear. He said: "The legislation seems to assume that the aggregator supervises the broker on a day-to-day basis. The reality is that there is very little day-to-day contact."It is not clear how issues like monitoring of training, systems and compliance, and handling annual reports and breach notifications will work in practice."Denovan said some other questions to be answered included the attitude the regulator would take to the apparent conflict in lenders having differential commissions based on volumes. And the role of electronic distribution of loans was uncertain in an environment where lenders had to inquire about the suitability of the loan.