Continued: Main legal actions regarding anti-competitive behavior, antitrust, monopoly practices and corrupt practices
COUNTRY UPDATE ON LEGAL ACTIONS DESCRIBED IN 2011 SUSTAINABILITY REPORT AS NOT CLOSED
The GVH (Hungarian Competition Authority) has begun a cartel investigation against seven
Hungarian commercial banks, including UniCredit Bank Hungary ZRT, in connection with Foreign
Exchange mortgage loan repayments. In 2012, the investigation is not yet closed.
As reported and based on a customer complaint, the GVH (Hungarian Competition Authority)
launched an investigation of UniCredit Bank Hungary ZRT regarding an advertising campaign that
ran from April 25 to October 31, 2008 for loans that were free of initial charge. As some elements
of the advertisement were considered misleading, the GVH imposed a fine of HUF 8,000,000
(about €25,000) against the bank. In December 2012, the appeal of the Bank has been dismissed
Hungary by the court. The bank appealed to the second instance against the decision.
In 2011, the HFSA (Hungarian Financial Supervisory Authority) fined UniCredit Bank Hungary ZRT
roughly a total of:
• € 1,000 over problems in complaint handling
• € 10,000 over inadequacy of information provided to clients (transparency)
• € 18,000 over inadequate interpretation of certain banking regulations
The mentioned fines are paid. In connection with the fine imposed by HFSA in an amount of HUF
5,000,000 (about € 16,000), related to the execution of the Foreign Exchange prepayment law -
court action, is ongoing.
A ZAO UniCredit Bank mortgage customer from the Nizhegorodskiy region complained to the local
Nizhegorodskiy anti-monopoly regulator that ZAO UniCredit Bank had violated Federal Law No. 135-FZ
of July 26, 2006 on Protection of Competition. Specifically, it is alleged that the Bank violated Article
11, Prohibition of Agreements Restricting Competition or Concerted Actions of Economic Units. The
Russia
client alleged that ZAO UniCredit Bank drove him to obtain insurance that he did not need, and that he
was driven to procure services from a specific insurance company. The Nizhegorodskiy anti-monopoly
regulator has requested that ZAO UniCredit Bank provide relevant documentation.
In 2012, the last session took place at the end of January. The decision has not been announced.
In 2011, UniCredit Țiriac Bank SA received fines totaling roughly € 68,000, mainly due to an erroneous
interpretation of transparency, consumer credit and other consumer protection requirements. In 2012,
the legal actions, that originated in 2011 over problems related to unfair commercial practices, resulted
in the payment of roughly € 2,200 following sanctions imposed by the National Consumer Protection
Authority.
Romania In November 2012, the representatives of the Competition Council against several banks, started
in October 2008, mentioned that the investigation team has formulated its conclusions and
that the Council will take the final decision on its investigation regarding an alleged attempt of
manipulating ROBOR from the part of the 10 Romanian Banks participating in fixing the RON
interbank offered rates (ROBOR).
UniCredit · 2012 Sustainability Report 11