The authors examine the ways in which the credit crunch has simulated both immediate regulatory initiatives and more fundamental reflection on consumer credit regulation, with regulation of consumer credit markets remaining on the policy agenda of many countries. This paper assesses how conventional regulatory assumptions - that reputable firms do not place risky products on the market, that innovation is stifled by regulation and that regulators are not as well placed as the market to judge the value of products - have been challenged by the credit crunch.