Speaking in a press conference and later for Europa FM, the president of the Romanian Competition Council, Catalin Chiritoiu, claimed that there is hard evidence revealing communication between the ten banks fined for collusion on ROBOR fixing, but he stressed that the decision was mostly based on the fact that the banks were able to see each other’s quotations. In the meantime, banks have seriously criticised the ruling, and the National Bank of Romania (BNR) has identified inconsistencies in the Council’s decision and is seeking clarifications.

“It is important to see a clarification from the Competition Council, especially for public opinion, about what anti-competitive practices are involved, what was violated in this regulation that the Council says it does not challenge, but at the same time sentences,” said BNR spokesperson Dan Suciu, cited by Radio Romania.

The major fine, of between 5% and 7% of the ten banks’ revenues, will be challenged in court by banks, and the competition body will have to reveal the logic and the evidence behind the decision that severely hit the banking market. 

Competition Council’s president Chiritoiu explained that the banks must pay the fines, even if they challenge the ruling in court. He also said that the Competition Council has a success rate of some 90% for the court cases involving its decisions.

In the meantime, the case has been gaining momentum with lawyer Gheorghe Piperea stressing that the debtors, subject to the allegedly manipulated ROBOR rates, can sue the banks and request compensation. “The CC's decision, once published, can form the basis for judicial proceedings for clients to recover inflated interest paid to banks as a result of this cartel practice," Piperea wrote on Facebook, as reported by Ziarul Financiar.

He said we are probably talking about over a million consumers, especially those in the "First Home" program (at least 350,000). He claimed that probably 50,000 companies (including those in IMM Invest) and a few hundred local administrative units and public institutions (e.g., state universities) are affected.

The explanations provided by the Competition Council and its president remain rather vague.

Asked during a press conference on this topic on June 8 about what the banks specifically did wrong, the head of the Competition Council replied, as quoted by Hotnews.ro: "The rules say banks must quote independently and [must] take a certain risk. (…) They look at each other. They can see each other’s quotes. And then, an alignment of their quotations can occur. So this vitiates the process of setting the ROBOR index. Plus, there are communications between banks, common methodologies that they put together. So it's a set of behaviours that vitiate the way the index is set."

However, the Competition Council in its press release and Chiritoiu in his press conference stressed that the ROBOR setting procedure in itself is good [although it allows banks to see each other’s quotes].

He said that this "behaviour" of banks still exists today.

"We give them a period of 60 days, from the moment they receive the decision, to adjust their behaviour," said the head of the Competition Council without explaining what this adjustment should look like.

iulian@romania-insider.com

(Photo source: Alexandru Marinescu/Dreamstime.com)