The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection found the provisions contained in the annexes to the loan agreements of BNP Paribas Bank Polska, Bank Millennium and Santander Bank Polska, which imprecisely defined the rules for determining foreign currency exchange rates on the basis of which banks convert loan installments – illegal.
As a consequence, the authority imposed financial penalties on banks in the amount of: PLN 26.6 million for BNP Paribas Bank Polska, PLN 10.5 million for Millennium and PLN 23.6 million for Santander Bank, and also prohibited the application of the questioned clauses.
The criteria used by banks for determining the so-called spread infringe the interests of consumers. Borrowers are not able to check how banks create exchange rates published in their tables and, as a result, whether they charge them too high loan installments. Banks, through the provisions of prohibited clauses, ensured themselves the possibility of subjective determination of the amount of exchange rates, as a result of which consumers could pay excessive loan installments. This is an unacceptable situation. The rules for determining financial obligations must be fair, transparent and verifiable by consumers, says Tomasz Chróstny, President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.
These annexes were to supplement the previously concluded foreign currency indexed loan agreements with detailed principles of methods and dates of determining currency exchange rates, based on are calculated, among others the amount of principal and interest installments.
More on this topic – https://finanse.uokik.gov.pl/chf/decyzje-prezesa-uokik-ws-kar-dla-bnp-paribas-millennium-i-santander-bank/
