• Customers of mBank's Brokerage Office are complaining about an increase in fees for the deposit of foreign securities.
• President of UOKiK Tomasz Chróstny has initiated an investigation into the matter.
• UOKiK is now verifying whether the bank had the right to unilaterally amend the contracts it executes and whether it allows consumers to terminate such contracts free of charge.

The mBank Brokerage Office (BO) has announced the introduction of a new table of fees starting from 1 July 2022. UOKiK has already received complaints from consumers, who claim that the bank has significantly reduced the value threshold of foreign financial instruments that are subject to deposit fees. Consumers will have to pay fees for the deposit of foreign financial instruments worth as little as PLN 10,000. Until now, the fee was only charged once their value exceeded the equivalent of PLN 500,000.

"I have opened explanatory proceedings to examine whether mBank had the right to unilaterally change the contracts it executes. This is because entrepreneurs cannot freely change the terms of the contracts they have entered into. The wording of the provision that determines the amount of the fee is also questionable. We will verify whether it is not unlawful", says Tomasz Chróstny, President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection.

The fee for depositing foreign securities will amount to 0.15 per cent of their value per annum, but as mBank stipulates, "no less than the costs incurred by BO for the benefit of the Depositary".

Furthermore, the complaints indicate that consumers may be charged additional fees should they reject the unilateral changes in the contract and wish to close their mBank Brokerage Office accounts. This is because the fee applied for transferring the foreign securities deposited at mBank's BO to another broker (which is necessary if the contract is terminated) amounts to 0.95 per cent of their value. This issue will also be examined as part of the explanatory proceedings.

If the preliminary analysis shows that there are grounds to file charges against mBank, the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection may initiate proceedings for infringement of collective consumer interests or application of prohibited clauses in contract models. Any entrepreneurs who are found guilty of such conduct face fines of up to 10 per cent of their annual turnover and will be forced to remove the consequences of their unlawful actions.

Consumer support:

Tel. 801 440 220 or 22 290 89 16 – consumer hotline
 Email: porady@dlakonsumentow.pl
Consumer Ombudsmen – in your town or county
Financial Ombudsman – if the complaint is rejected by the financial institution

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