Poland’s Competition Authority weighs in on a dispute between consumers and Euro Bank in a case involving mortgages taken in Swiss francs.
Poland’s amended act on competition and consumer protection gives Poland’s Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) the ability to present a court with standpoint material to a case. Such opinions allow the Authority to share its knowledge and assist the courts in dispute settlement.
UOKiK has presented the court with its standpoint for the fourth time. Consumers who took out a mortgage indexed to the exchange rate of the Swiss franc from Euro Bank filed to involve UOKiK. The District Court in Kielce has been hearing the case since March 2016. Consumers seek to have the feasibility of the bank’s writ of enforcement nullified. They cite the fact that the clauses concerning the rules for determining the exchange rate are imprecise and therefore prohibited. In accordance with the disputed clauses, Euro Bank defines the buy and sell rates of currencies in the table to which it refers consumers.
