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LUXEMBOURG – The European Union Court of Justice (CJEU) confirmed today the process of the Competition Authority (AdC) against 14 banks, in 2019, for competition violation, rejecting the appeals presented against the regulator’s decision.
In a statement related to the judgment delivered today, the CJEU states that “the exchange of information that occurred over more than a decade among 14 credit institutions in Portugal may constitute a restriction of competition by object”.
The issue involves the exchange of information concerning the mortgage, consumer credit, and corporate credit markets, which “focused on certain conditions, current and future, applicable to operations, notably spreads and risk variables, as well as on the individualized production values of the participants in this exchange”.
The court considers that there may be a restriction of competition “when the exchanged information is confidential and strategic in the sense that this information is likely to reveal the future behavior of a competitor in the relevant markets”.
The case, known as the ‘banking cartel’, was referred to the CJEU in May 2022 by the Competition, Regulation, and Supervision Court to rule on whether the exchange of information had an effect on the consumer.
It is now up to the Competition Court to decide on the appeal against the AdC decision presented by the targeted banks.
On September 09, 2019, the AdC fined 14 banks a total of 225 million euros for concerted practice of exchanging sensitive commercial information over a period of more than ten years, between 2002 and 2013.
The convicted banks are BBVA, BIC (for acts committed by the then BPN), BPI, BCP, BES, Banif, Barclays, CGD, Caixa Central de Crédito Agrícola Mútuo, Montepio, Santander (for acts committed by itself and by Banco Popular), Deutsche Bank and UCI.
Of these, only Banif and Deutsche Bank did not appeal the AdC’s decision. (July 29)
EU Court confirms proceedings against 14 banks
The case, which became known as the ‘banking cartel’, was referred to the European court in May 2022 by the Competition, Regulation and Supervision Court, to rule on whether the exchange of information had an effect on the consumer, who is responsible for deciding on the appeal presented by the targeted banks.
