Link: https://curia.europa.eu/jcms/upload/docs/application/pdf/2024-07/cp240123en.pdf

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PRESS RELEASE No 123/24

Luxembourg, 29 July 2024

Judgment of the Court in Case C-298/22 | Banco BPN/BIC Português and Others

The exchange of information over a period of more than ten years between 14 credit institutions in Portugal could constitute a restriction of competition by object

It is ultimately for the Portuguese competition court to determine whether that is the case

In September 2019, the Portuguese Competition Authority (‘the Competition Authority’) imposed on 14 credit institutions (including the six largest in Portugal) 1 a fine totalling € 225 million. The Competition Authority took the view that those institutions had infringed national and EU competition law by participating in a comprehensive and reciprocal monthly exchange of sensitive information over a period of more than ten years between 2002 and 2013. The information exchanged concerned the home loans market, the consumer credit market and the corporate lending market. It related to certain current and future commercial conditions, in particular credit spreads and risk variables, and to the individual production figures of the participants in that exchange 2 . (...)