The high fees for early loan repayment, the conditioning by thebanks of the granting of a loan on the opening of a current accountand in some cases on the acquisition of an insurance policy aswell, but also the fees related to using cards for payments aresome of the Competition Council's issues of concern related to thebanking sector.
Nevertheless, the Council has just one investigation underway inthe banking area, opened one year ago, when several banks allegedlytried to manipulate currency market interest rates.
"It's a field of concern for us. It is important through the numberof involved consumers, it has high profit margins and interests arehigh. When you see high profit margins in a field, you take a closelook," says Bogdan Chiritoiu, 39, Competition Councilchairman.
Last year, banks generated a record net income of 1.2bn euros, eventhough they started feeling the crisis in the last quarter.
As an administrative authority, the Council has powers to restoreand maintain a competitive environment, as well as superviseplayers in the economy. Like most supervisory bodies, the Councilis highly discreet as regards the investigations it carriesout.
Chiritoiu is unwilling to talk about possible plans to launchinvestigations. "As a rule, an investigation starts with anunexpected inspection. We do not want to warn those wetarget".
However, he is not concerned about the banking field, consideringthe market is sufficiently fragmented for competition not to beblatantly harmed. Still, the Council plans to scrutinise marketsub-segments, at a regional level.
Chiritoiu says early loan repayment fees only make sense in thecase of loans with fixed interests, where banks take on biggerrisks. However, the Competition Council cannot initiate legislativeprojects, with the Consumer Protection Authority having suchpowers.
Chiritoiu says he is trying to improve collaboration with theConsumer Protection National Authority and with the NBR.
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