trending Market Intelligence /marketintelligence/en/news-insights/trending/_TkxN8zgCRrvqKmYA79wZQ2 content esgSubNav
In This List

Portuguese regulator fines 14 banks €225M for exchanging sensitive information

Podcast

Street Talk Episode 87

Blog

A New Dawn for European Bank M&A Top 5 Trends

Blog

Insight Weekly: US banks' loan growth; record share buybacks; utility M&A outlook

Blog

Banking Essentials Newsletter 2021: December Edition


Portuguese regulator fines 14 banks €225M for exchanging sensitive information

Portugal's competition authority, the Autoridade da Concorrência, fined 14 banks a total of €225 million for concerted practices of exchanging sensitive commercial data between 2002 and 2013 on their offers of credit products in retail banking.

The regulator fined Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA; Banco BIC, for acts practiced by the then BPN; Banco BPI SA; Millennium BCP; Banco Espírito Santo SA; Banif-Banco Internacional do Funchal SA; Barclays PLC; Caixa Geral de Depósitos SA; Caixa de Crédito Agrícola; Caixa Económica Montepio Geral caixa económica bancária SA; Banco Santander SA, for acts committed by itself and Banco Popular Español SA; Deutsche Bank AG and UCI.

The lenders had allegedly exchanged sensitive data on their offers of retail banking credit products, including mortgages, consumer and small and medium-sized enterprises loans, the Autoridade da Concorrência said Sept. 9. This practice discouraged competition and had a direct and immediate impact on consumers, according to the authority.

The regulator noted that only 13 of the 15 banks initially charged in its statement of objections were fined as Santander in 2017 acquired Popular, which was also charged, and assumed the latter's pending judicial liabilities. Abanca Corporación Bancaria SA was also initially charged but the lender was not fined because it ceased the practice many years before the other banks.

The Autoridade da Concorrência said the total fine was determined by taking into account the seriousness and duration of each bank's alleged participation in the illegal scheme. Under a leniency program, the first bank to report on the exchange of information and provide evidence on its participation was exempted from any fine, while the second bank, which provided additional evidence, received a 50% reduction of its fine.

Meanwhile, Millennium BCP, which was fined €60 million of the total amount, said it will legally challenge the Portuguese competition watchdog's decision in the courts. The lender described the penalty as "unjustified and unbalanced" as the information exchange has not resulted in any demonstrable harm to customers.

Santander and Caixa Geral de Depósitos would also appeal against the the regulator's ruling, the Financial Times reported, citing Portuguese media.

The lengthy investigation was initiated by the competition authority in 2012 and it searched 25 premises of the 15 banks that participated in the scheme.