Banks challenge fines in the ROBOR case / BRD opened the series of lawsuits, while CEC Bank follows on Thursday

The banks sanctioned by the Competition Council for coordinating their behavior in the procedure for setting ROBOR have begun challenging the imposition of the fines in court. The first case, filed by BRD, took place on Wednesday at the Bucharest Court of Appeal, while the CEC Bank case is scheduled for Thursday. Rulings are expected in the next one or two weeks.

The president of the Competition Council, Bogdan Chirițoiu, stated that the court will decide whether the sanctions must be paid immediately or whether their enforcement will be suspended until the cases are resolved on their merits and any appeal to the High Court. If enforcement is suspended, payment could be postponed for years. If the applications are rejected, the banks would have approximately one month to pay the fines.

Each institution has a separate case, and the courts could issue different rulings. The Competition Council requested that the hearings be public, a request granted in the BRD case. With the exception of CEC Bank, the other banks requested that the proceedings be held in camera.

In June, the authority fined the banks 3.73 billion lei, the largest penalty in its history, for violating competition rules and influencing the ROBOR index. The investigation, launched at the end of 2022, concerned communications and interbank transactions surrounding the “fixing” procedure.

ROBOR influences the interest rates on certain loans in lei, including those held by individuals with loans contracted before 2019.