• Banks cannot freely change significant terms of loan mortgage agreements.
• The President of UOKiK levelled charges against Getin Noble Bank and Raiffeisen Bank International.
• Both banks informed their customers about changing the methods of calculating the buying and selling rates of foreign currencies.

The Office of Competition and Consumer Protection received complaints about Getin Noble Bank (GNB) and Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) unilaterally changing regulations attached to loan mortgage agreements indexed to and denominated primarily in Swiss franc. In 2016, customers received letters with information about new terms and conditions. Both banks wanted to introduce new methods of calculating the rates of buying and selling foreign currencies by adding certain spread (GNB) or the Bank’s Margin Index (RBI). For more information, clients were referred to the Reuters news agency.

In the opinion of the Office, the method of calculating foreign currencies’ buying and selling rates and other debt repayment security constitute important elements of the agreement. They should not be unilaterally changed in fixed-term loan agreements leading to consumers’ debt. In fact, the banks gave the clients no choice as they could either accept changes or terminate their agreement, which meant that they would have to immediately pay back their debts. That is why many people were forced to accept new rules imposed by the stronger party, i.e. the bank, says Marek Niechciał, President of UOKiK.

According to the Office, the essential terms of fixed-term agreements leading to debt can only be changed following voluntary agreement between the bank and the consumer. If the customer did not agree to them, then such an agreement should continue to be performed on current basis.

The changes analysed by the Office could also have an impact on the perception of provisions regarding repayment of instalments of loans indexed to or denominated in a foreign currency. Pursuant to the regulations, if consumers repaid instalments in PLN, the banks converted them into foreign currency according to the selling rate based on their exchange rate table. Usually, Polish courts consider such provisions illegal, because they do not indicate the rules according to which banks established the selling rates. The Office has already expressed such a view in its opinion on valorisation clauses. However, during the term of the agreement entrepreneurs (banks in this case) cannot arbitrarily specify or change abusive provisions. I would like to remind financial institutions that any new solution should be mutually agreed upon. They should also remember that abusive provisions on rules for determining exchange rates cannot be changed freely. The Court of Justice of the EU has taken a stand thereon many times, says Tomasz Chróstny, Vice-president of UOKiK.

GNB also informed its clients that it had replaced the provisions on the bank enforcement order (BEO) with an obligation to submit to enforcement pursuant to Article 777 of the Code of Civil Procedure, which could require a notarial deed to be signed. The Office questioned this action. The repeal of the BEO-related provisions by the Constitutional Tribunal does not give banks the right to implement other forms of security into valid agreements.

The Office also questioned the grounds for introducing a modification clause to land mortgage agreements by GNB. The bank could not do this, because there was no contractual legal basis to do so, and legal provisions that GNB referred to in its correspondence to its clients did not yet exist as they were just about to be introduced.

In addition, the Office is conducting proceedings for recognizing unclear rules for determining foreign currencies’ selling and buying rates as unlawful. They concern eight banks, including Getin Noble Bank and Raiffeisen Bank International.

Proceedings initiated by UOKiK may end with a fine amounting up to 10% of the bank’s turnover.

Consumer service:

Phone: 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer helpline
E-mail: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumers’ ombudsmen – in your town or district
Financial Ombudsman – www.rf.gov.pl – when a complaint is rejected
Regional Consumer’s Centres: 22 299 60 90 – Dlakonsumenta.pl

Additional information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa, Poland
Phone +48 695 902 088, +48 22 55 60 246
E-mail: biuroprasowe@uokik.gov.pl
Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL