Banks kept quiet until Government passed ordinance on loans

The new legislation on the individuals' loans, announced as early as February, has not determined a strong response from banks, which tried to keep talks at institutional level, and not involve clients in the debate until close to the implementation deadline.

Two years ago, the European Parliament adopted a directive on the elimination or capping of the early repayment fee charged by banks on unsecured personal loans that range between 200 and 75,000 euros. The directive was set to be translated into the legislation of EU countries by June 2010.
The Romanian authorities put forward the idea of extending the provisions of the European directive at the time of translating them into Romanian legislation, which took the form of a draft emergency ordinance prepared by the National Consumer Protection Authority (ANPC). Banks opposed the extension of provisions of the EU directive from the very start.
The draft failed to generate lengthy debates in the banking community, whose officials apparently hoped they would have sufficient influence to cause the draft to be modified before its approval.