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The Group of Clients with Loans in CHF ROMANIA May 2016

Translation from Romanian

Petition to the European Parliament


Contents
Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 1
Chapter 1: The Banking System abuse and deceptive practices .................................................... 2
Chapter 2: Banking system lobby against the laws ............................................................................ 8
Chapter 3: National Authority for Consumer Protection ................................................................. 10
Chapter 4: The social consequences of Swiss Franc loans ............................................................... 14
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................... 15

Introduction
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We are addressing the European Parliament as citizens of a member state of the European Union,
citizens whose rights to a dignified life have been flagrantly and systematically breached through
the abuses practiced by the banking system and through the lack of action of competent authorities,
who have the role of ensuring our protection, as consumers, through an adequate legislative
framework and through the enforcement of laws and court rulings.
The Group of Clients with Loans in CHF is a civic movement constituted on a social network at the
beginning of the year 2015, when the Swiss Franc appreciated against the national currency (1 CHF
reached the threshold of 4,5 RON), and it has 23000 members of the (approximately) over 70000
debtors in CHF from Romania. For more than one year, we have organized actions meant to draw
the attention of responsible factors over the dramatic situation of the debtors in Swiss Francs. We
have organized meetings, marches, we have paid the installment divided in sums of 1-2 CHF,
boycotting the bank counters for days, we have petitioned the deciding factors: Parliament,
President, Government, Ombudsperson, we have lodged complaints to the National Authority for
Consumer Protection (ANPC) regarding the abusive practices, the irregularities in contracts and
work practices of bankers, we have sent emails and messages to the entire political class, we have
tried to draw the attention of the National Authority for Consumer Protection and to make it
accountable.
We have tried to negotiate, both individually and as a group, with the banks in Romania who have
given loans in Swiss Francs, in order to reach common ground. Therefore, over 1500 debtors in
CHF have legally mandated the Association of Romanian Financial Services Users (AURSF,
member with voting rights of the European organization Better Finance) to carry negotiations in
their name with the banks. Unfortunately, these negotiations failed, as the banks showed no
openness towards any proposal and were unwilling to negotiate.

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Chapter 1: The Banking System abuse and deceptive practices


Ladies and Gentlemen,
All our proceedings have encountered the aggressive lobby of the banks and of the National Bank
of Romania against the laws meant to protect the consumer, causing difficulties in the legislative
process, they have also encountered the authorities lack of responsibility, but especially the lack of
good faith of the banking system. The situation of the debtors in CHF becomes more and more
serious and in many cases, even if the authorities will adopt laws to balance the bank client
relationship, any intervention is tardive for a part of the debtors. The endurance of some of the
debtors to the abuses of the bank wore off to the point where they became suicidal, in Romania
existing over 30 such cases up to this moment, and here we include just the ones that became public
through mass-media. Below, we present to you a video footage about these cases.
http://contrabanci.com/grupul-clientilor-cu-credite-in-chf/s-au-sinucis-din-cauza-datoriilorla-banci/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=afbBAi2Lp6g
What does the continuous and systematic abuse on the debtors in Swiss Francs mean? We
invite you to analyze the following issues:
1. Lending in CHF took place in the period between 2006 and 2008. The debtors signed preformulated contracts, without having the possibility of analyzing and/or negotiating, the banks
taking advantage of their lack of financial education and of their trust in coming to the financial
institution.
2. The banks used deceptive practices presenting to the clients the Swiss Franc as being the most
stable currency, the scenario being almost identical for all the banks: underlying the conditions
of a smaller interest for the loans in CHF than for the loans in the national currency and by
being presented with the most stable currency, the clients were communicated that they did
not meet the criteria for obtaining a loan in the national currency or in euro, but only a loan in
Swiss Francs, being guided towards this type of loan. This scenario is applicable to the vast
majority of clients who accessed loans in Swiss Francs.
The brochures offered by Raiffeisen Bank and OTP Bank to the clients are such examples,
brochures which specify that the Swiss Franc is a stable currency.

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RAIFFEISEN BANK BROCHURE


*Starting with September 2006, Raiffeisen Bank offers you the possibility of contracting loans in
Swiss Francs under convenient conditions. What are the advantages of the Swiss currency compared
to other currencies? Stability: The stability of a currency is given by the stability of the economy of
the state issuing the currency. The Swiss Franc (CHF), issued by the National Bank of Switzerland,
is considered one of the most stable currencies. A neutral state with a historical political stability,
Switzerland is at the same time characterized by a healthy economy with a sustainable and constant
growth, without major imbalances and with a reduced inflation. The low inflation rate, supported by
a balanced economic growth, permitted low interest rates, which is another major advantage for the
Swiss currency. Interest rate: Expression of the performance, of economic stability and of the
banking system in Switzerland, the interest rate for the Swiss Franc is generally lower than for other
international currencies (Euro, USD). As a result of the international liberalization of capital flow,
numerous commercial banks in Central and Eastern Europe have started to offer loans in the Swiss
currency. Clients have chosen these loans due to the lower interest rates than those for the national
currency, being able to obtain a loan for a larger sum.
OTP BANK BROCHURE
Especially for you: OTP Bank introduces you to a new alternative for financing your loan: you can
choose a loan in Swiss Francs with a very convenient interest! This currency already has tradition in
the lending activity carried out in other European countries, presenting advantages from the
perspective of stability and costs. In our country, the Swiss Franc is included in the category of
currencies for which the National Bank of Romania issues a reference exchange rate daily and you
can get an idea about its evolution, using the chart below or by visiting the BNR webpage, at
www.bnro.ro.
If this financing option is of interest to you, we welcome you to any of the OTP Bank branches to
learn more about the lending offer in Swiss Francs. *In case you decide to take a loan in a currency
different than the currency of your incomes, it is recommended to consider the existence of an
additional risk: that of the fluctuation of the exchange rate.

Moreover, the brochure with the presentation of the Swiss Franc evolution contains only the part
with regard to its stability, the information concerning the evolution of the RON-CHF exchange
rate throughout a more extended period of time not being presented to the public.

*The evolution of the BNR daily exchange rate for the Swiss Franc (January 2004September 2005) OTP BROCHURE
The situation over a course of 10 years of the evolution of the CHF-RON exchange rate is the
following, however the consumers had no knowledge of this information and never questioned the
accuracy and completeness of the information presented by the bank.
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BNR exchange rate for CHF (Swiss Franc)

Source: http://www.cursv.ro/bnr/chf/?sd=1998-01-01&ed=2016-08-01
Between June 1998 and June 2004, the CHF had a growth of 380%, followed by a 30% decrease (in
the period between June 2004 - July 2007), and then by 19% growth (July 2007 June 2008). This
evolution does not imply stability, as stated by the banks. Although we exemplified with the
aforementioned brochures from two banks who gave loans in CHF, all the banks which gave such
loans promoted the Swiss Franc as a stable currency. The main banks who gave loans in CHF are:
Volksbank, OTP Bank, Raiffeisen, Bancpost, Piraeus Bank, Credit Europe Bank, Banca
Romneasc.
3. Actually, the clients, in their vast majority, did not receive Swiss Francs, but Lei or Euro, CHF
remaining only a currency written in the contract, with an exchange rate taken into account
when calculating the monthly installments. The problems of the debtors appeared one or two
years after contracting the loan, the rate of the Franc having a constant growth throughout this
entire time. Compared to the peak period of lending in CHF (2007-2008), the rate has doubled,
which has led to, among other factors, the debtors becoming over-indebted.
4. The clients were not explained whatsoever the risks they were taking. The contracts stipulated a
fixed interest only for the first one or two years from lending, the banks being able to
unilaterally change risk margins and interests, without being required to notify the client, in
some cases. Furthermore, no client has been informed with regard to the procedures of
enforcement and with regard to the fact that the guaranty consigned in the contract is not
sufficient in case of a procedure of enforcement should take place.
5. The banks inserted abusive clauses in the pre-formulated contracts.
Apart from the exchange rate difference, fully supported by the debtors, all CHF loan contracts
contained abusive clauses and most of them still do. With the exception of a few thousand
clients who, after years of trials, recovered through court decisions these sums that were
unlawfully charged by banks, the great majority of debtors are held captive by contracts with
abusive clauses. These clauses can involve up to 30-50% of the installment to be paid to the
bank! We consider that the main responsibility here is that of the ANPC the National
Authority for Consumer Protection which, although was notified 6-7 years ago about the
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existence of these abusive contractual clauses, it has not exercised its attributions, moreover, it
acted against the interests of the Romanian consumers of banking products, as we shall show in
a separate chapter.
The Romanian courts have therefore decided that the following situations represent abusive
clauses or incorrect practices:
Clauses referring to fees hidden from the calculation of a loan
Clauses referring to the fee for giving a loan
Clauses referring to the risk fee
Transforming the risk fee into administration fee
Clauses referring to the administration fee (monthly sum for administrating the loan, a
fee which in some cases was higher than the interest rate)
Clauses referring to the unilateral growth of the bank margin or of the interest
Clauses referring to the inclusion of some variable margins in calculating certain fixed
interests
Transforming the fixed interest rate into a variable interest rate
Formulas for calculating the non-transparent interest
Clauses regarding the exchange risk taken by the client
Clauses referring to the fee for anticipated reimbursement
The bank imposing an insurance company
Clauses referring to giving the loan in CHF
These were proven in court, by final and irrevocable rulings in favor of the bank debtors, currently
being more than 10000 on trial in courts. Also, it is well known that the banks are not willing to
give up these sums charged unlawfully from the rest of the loan contract which include the
aforementioned clauses, which represents an illegal source of profit made on the account of the
debtors.
In case the debtor has the financial resources to go to court against the bank (which is rather
difficult for a debtor in CHF, impoverished by the burden of unbearable installments) and to put up
during the trial, even if the debtor wins the trail, his problems do not end here. There have been
numerous cases when the bank refused to apply the final decision of the court, the debtor being
forced to start all over again through another trial and to commence the enforcement of the bank.
The most recent case of this type is represented by the trial with erga omnes effects between the
ANPC and OTP Bank in which, although the final ruling favors the consumers, it is not applied by
the specified bank, while the ANPC does not intervene to solve this problem.
A very serious aspect is represented by the lack of consistency in the rulings of the courts, two
identical contracts being given different solutions depending on the court. A clause is abusive in
one court and not abusive in another. We can assume that these aspects are somehow caused by the
seminars held periodically by BNR exclusively with the magistrates. We consider incorrect and
against the interests of bank clients organizing these seminars without the attendance of the clients
lawyers and/or of the associations for consumer protection.
6. Enforcements are widely practiced in Romania. We do not have clear statistics of these.
According to BNR estimations, the number of loans guaranteed with a bank or with an apartment
which are under enforcement would be around 5230, and the number of loans guaranteed with a
land would be of 3177. We do not know if these figures correspond to reality, given that this
institution has not offered clear statistics about the number and exact value of loans in CHF, the
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number and exact value of loans transferred externally (many of them being performing), the
number and exact value of personal loans with mortgage given to the populations (they are not
regulated by any law). The public statements of BNR officials are contradictory and do not present
a clear picture of the performing or non-performing loans, nor of those under enforcement. The
borderline legal practices of commercial banks add to this opacity of the banking system and of the
BNR.
Enforcement: the executed good is sold at much lower sums than its market value, reaching even 510% of the value of the mortgage, which implicitly means that the debtor and his family are
judicially executed through the garnishment on incomes (even 70% of the family income) and on
other goods, until the debt is fully paid. In numerous cases, the rest of the debt remaining to be paid
after selling the executed good is equal to or even surpasses the value of the initial loan, the
payment of the debt being scheduled over dozens of years (the mass media presented a case of
scheduling until 2104!). With regard to loans in CHF, we estimate that, after 8-10 years of payment,
an average of 10% of the main loan would be paid, the rest representing interests and bank fees.
These enforcements take place based on contracts filled with abusive clauses. In Romania, the
enforcement of bank debtors is a conviction to poverty for life, the debtor many times lacking the
financial possibility of living in a rented space. Throughout the period involving the reimbursement
of the rest of the debt, the bank continues to charge penalty taxes which it covers with priority in
reimbursing debts. Additionally, the externalization of executed loans to other private companies
which calculate even larger penalties and interests is practiced on a wide scale.
7. In Romania, a NEW type of loan was widely practiced between 2007 2008 the personal
loan guaranteed with a mortgage, different from the mortgage loan. These loans are not
subjected to the Law no. 190/1999, nor to the BNR methodological norms of applying the Law
no. 190/1999 regarding the mortgage loan and nor to the Law no. 289/2004 regarding the legal
status of loan contracts for individuals and with respect to BNR norms, because their value was
over 20.000 euro and were given on a period extending beyond 5-10 years (the lending period
for a personal loan). This way, the creditor was free from the limitations of the mortgage loan
which restricted the number of fees, required mentioning the effective annual interest rate and
explaining the formula of the interest, as well as the total costs of the loan.
8. The level of the interest rates applied in Romania, the second poorest country in Europe,
is 4-5 times higher than those applied in other countries in the EU, reaching 10%, even
12% for a mortgage, real estate or personal loan guaranteed with a mortgage!
9. The only supportive measures taken by banks for clients who have difficulties paying
the loans are those of restructuring, which actually indebts the debtor even more, by
raising the interests and/or prolonging the lending period.
Here we can remember, to exemplify, just one situation: that of two police officers from the
city of Timioara, who had to pay 27.400 Swiss Francs for the help of the bank. Daniela
and Eugen P., police officers, took a mortgage loan of 140000 Swiss Francs from Raiffeisen
Bank Romania, in May 2008, for a period of 318 months. With an interest of 5,5% and an
administration fee of 0,15%, the monthly installment was of 1037 CHF, installment paid
religiously by the two spouses until 2010. In 2010, the depreciation of the Leu against the
Franc, which had reached from 2,26 at the moment of obtaining the loan to 2,95 Lei/Franc at
the middle of the year, made the monthly installment, expressed in Lei, to go from 2.345 Lei
to 3.060 Lei. In the summer of the same year, the Democratic Liberal Party government, led
by Emil Boc, decided to raise the VAT from 19% to 24% and to cut the salaries of state
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workers by 25%. The net incomes of the family dropped by 43%, and being in financial
difficulty, the family reached for the help of the bank. Initially, they hoped the bank would
give up charging the administration fee, since the contract allowed such a measure. That did
not happen. The clients petition, according to them, received no answer, was given no
registration number, but the bank came with another proposal, leaving no room for
discussions, presenting it as the only solution and placing an addendum in front of the
clients to be signed. Through this addendum, the monthly installment dropped at 528
Francs, as a result of applying an interest rate of 1% for one year. Initially, the clients
believed they had made a good deal, since the maturity schedule showed a total
reimbursement value of 306.838 Francs, far smaller than the one from the time of obtaining
the loan, which was of 307.589 Francs. However, the bank had introduced in the maturity
schedule only the sums which were about to be paid, leaving out the sums that had been
paid until then, which meant that the debtors would pay again what they already paid until
signing the addendum, respectively 28000 Francs, of which 22.500 interests and fees. The
bank transformed the loan from one with fixed interest into one with variable interest and
imposed a fixed margin of 8,16%. The administration fee was included in the new interest
and the effective annual interest for the rescheduled sum was set at 7,94% (upon signing the
contract it was 7,75%). Through that addendum, the clients were giving up other options
they had in the initial contract. After the year of restructuring went by, the installment would
have been 1081 Francs, but the bank suggested a new addendum, this time for 2 years. The
bank applies one of the widely spread methods of restructuring: it postponed the payment of
the main loan for one year, the client paying only the interest, and the margin of the bank
grew again, reaching 8,55%. In this first year, the monthly installment was of 537 CHF,
from December 2012 it grew to 811 CHF and from December 2013, to 1.113 CHF. The
CHF exchange rate was already 3,55 Lei/Franc. This case was featured in the media and for
more details please access the link below: http://www.economica.net/cum-te-ajuta-banca-lagreu-doi-politisti-s-au-dus-sa-faca-o-restructurare-in-vremea-taierilor-lui-boc_78463.html
However, the dramatic situation of the two police officers from Timioara is not singular, the salary
cuts operated by the Boc government to state workers (who make up a large portion of the total
debtors in CHF) leading to numerous cases of people being unable to pay their installments.
Moreover, although at that time, not only the former President Traian Bsescu, but also the former
prime-minister, declared these austerity measures had been imposed by the International Monetary
Fund, subsequently, according to the statements made in 2010 by the former President of the IMF,
Dominique Strauss-Khan, it was clear that the IMF requested raising the taxes for those with above
average incomes and for the rich, not cutting salaries. In addition, the IMF was against this measure
which hit state workers and protected the rich, but could not stop it, since the measure was taken by
the Romanian government.
The term for the law of personal bankruptcy coming into force was postponed. The law was
published in the Official Gazette in June 2015, but the term of coming into force was
postponed through a Government Emergency Ordinance (OUG) from the end of last year.
Romania is the only state member of the European Union which does not apply such a law.
There is no law of conversion, we have been witnessing an extraordinary pressure from bank
lobbying for not voting or for postponing some laws that would balance the relationship
between client and bank or for amending some existing laws which regulate loans, even if this
is about transposing European directives into the Romanian legislation.

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Chapter 2: Banking system lobby against the laws


Ladies and gentlemen,
As consumers, we are witnessing constant pressure from the banking system on the political factor,
to our detriment. We offer you just a few examples:
a) In the 2008 civil code project, the initial form of article 2478 from section III was the mortgage
creditor can forcefully execute only the goods which are mortgaged to him (the project
implicitly provided the datio in solutum of the mortgaged good). At the intervention of the
banking lobbyists, the article gained the current form in the code. In a similar manner, in the
civil procedure code project, the initial form of article 814 paragraph 4 was: the mortgage
creditor can demand the sale of the mortgaged estates only (again, the datio in solutum was
implicitly provided). Following the intervention of banking lobbyists, the article gained the
current form in the civil procedure code.
Both codes, in their initial form, implicitly provided the datio in solutum, forbidding the
foreclosure of the debtor after the mortgage estate was sold. The codes did not allow the debtor
selling to the debt collector after the enforcement/datio in solutum of the mortgaged estate.
Without the intervention of bank lobbyists, today the Civil Code would have included the datio
in solutum law, a 2000-year-old law.
At the moment of editing this petition, the President of Romania promulgated the datio in
solutum law, despite the huge pressure from the banking system and from BNR, a law which
offers the right to life to those who are about to go through enforcement or who already are.
b) The norm 10/2005 of BNR was repealed in 2007 under the pressure of bank lobbyists and was
replaced with norm 3/2007. This favored a rise of the indebtedness level from 35% to 65%, the
introduction of personal loans with mortgage and of abusive clauses in contracts.
c) As a result of the intervention of bank lobbyists, the effects of applying the Government
Ordinance 50/2010 on ongoing loans, through which the European Directive 48/2008/CE was
transposed in the internal legislation, were annulled (even after the CJUE confirmed that the
Directive 2008/48/CE of the European Parliament is not in opposition) and the laws from the
consumer protection field were applied in a faulty manner or were not applied at all, through
ANPC.
In 2010, the direct intervention of the Romanian Banking Association (A.R.B.) on the National
Bank of Romania, as well as on representatives of the Monetary International Fund in Romania,
regarding the effects of the OUG 50/2010 on the ongoing loans portfolio at the moment when it
entered into force, resulted in the termination of the proceedings of the Romanian Government
of transposing and implementing the Directive 2008/48/CE of the European Parliament and of
the Council of April 23rd 2008, which had as purpose reaching a certain level of transparency in
the relationship client-bank, including through the elimination of abusive clauses which have
subsequently thrown thousands of clients in the middle of complicated, long-term trials which
uselessly crowd Romanian courts even to this day.
Therefore, the Law 288/2010 amending the OUG 50/2010 made the provisions of the OUG
50/2010 inapplicable to ongoing loans, being applicable only to new loans, thus validating loan
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contracts filled with abusive clauses, according to the court rulings from the thousands of trials
up to that date.
The pretext of amending this law was that it breached the European legislation, when, in fact,
the Court of Justice of the European Union showed that this law was in accordance with
European norms.
http://curia.europa.eu/juris/document/document.jsf?docid=124988&doclang=RO
d) The legislative apparatus was subjected to constant pressure by bank lobbyists who targeted the
modification, in the detriment of consumers, of the law 193/2000, the law of abusive clauses,
one of the few instruments that can be used by the Romanian consumer to eliminate abusive
clauses from contracts, clauses which are inconceivable in other European countries.
Starting with October 1st 2013, new articles of this law came into force (articles 12 and 13),
which supported the consumers because the legal basis form trials with erga omnes effects was
integrated in the national legislation, respectively from that moment on, if a clause is found
abusive by a court, that clause shall be eliminated from all ongoing adhesion contracts signed by
a certain professional. These class action suits can be filed only by the ANPC and consumer
protection associations, under certain conditions.
Through an aggressive and systematic lobby, the banking system, through the Romanian
Banking Association, succeeded in delaying with a few months the modification of the law
193/2000, in the sense of introducing the aforementioned articles.
The Constitutional Court has recently expresses its opinion with regard to these two articles
from the law 193/2000 and decided that erga omnes suits do not breach in any way the
Romanian Constitution.
With just a month before the amendments brought to the law 193/2000 became operative, 12
deputies of the Social Democratic Party (PSD) and 6 from the National Union for the Progress
of Romania (UNPR) filed a bill at the Senate, asking other amendments, in the interest of the
banks. In December 2013, the bill passed the Senate and entered the Chamber of Deputies,
although it had a negative opinion from the Government and all the other commissions. The
Romanian Banking Association (ARB) was the only party which came with amendments to the
project, meant to transform the law of abusive clauses in a law tailored for bankers. The
pressures for amending this law are ongoing, and bank clients live fearing that, despite
numerous petitions and appeals to the political factors, the banking lobbying will take its course
once again and the law shall be modified in the best interest of the bankers. Practically, this law
is the ground for all the trials on abusive clauses in Romania.
e) The law of datio in solutum of the mortgaged good with freeing the debtor from his debts has
just been promulgated by the President. It is the first law in Romania that could have a real
possibility of balancing the relationship client-bank, but that is still far from solving all the
problems of the debtors. For 11 months, we have witnessed unprecedented lobbying of the
banking system against this law, which proves once again that the banks Romania have not
understood they cannot function without clients.

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Chapter 3: National Authority for Consumer Protection


Ladies and Gentlemen,
In the only country of the European Union where there is no law on personal bankruptcy, the
institution which should have handled the protection of financial services clients, the National
Authority for Consumer Protection (ANPC) not only fails to do so, but it even acts against
their interests.
We consider that the ANPC has all the necessary legislative leveraging tools to stop the abusive and
illicit practices of the banks, but this seldom happens, so the situation of the debtors aggravates one
day to another. Moreover, from some actions of the ANPC, developed throughout the past years, we
can draw the conclusion that this institution intervened in many case in favor of the bank and to the
detriment of the clients.
We present to you some arguments which prove this de facto situation:
1. The ANPC (the National Authority for Consumer Protection) acted against the
consumers interests at the moment of implementing the OUG 50/2010, the transposition
of the European Directive 48/2008/CE
In July 2010, the ANPC sends to the ARB (Romanian Banking Association) a letter in which it
mentions how the formula of the interest for the contracts aligned at the OUG 50/2010 can be
modified, although this provision does NOT exist in the European Directive 48/2008/CE,
transposed in the Romanian legislation through OUG 50/2010. If a legal modification of the
formula for calculating the interest was desired, it had to have been specified in the OUG 50/2010
or in the la law 288/2010 for the approval of OUG 50/2010, but certainly not in an internal letter.
In accordance with the law 24/2000 regarding legislative technique norms for normative
documents, amendments are made through a document of the same hierarchy. The banks in
Romania have changed the formula for calculating interests and renamed some fees based on this
letter sent by the ANPC to ARB, with the purpose of aligning all ongoing contracts to OUG
50/2010.
CONCLUSION: The banks were advised by the ANPC on how to act against the interests of the
consumers. They have modified all loan contracts based only on an internal letter, knowingly
ignoring that neither the European Directive 48, nor OUG 50/2010 and nor the law 288/2010 do not
mention this provision. Moreover, all aforementioned three documents clearly stipulate that the
introduction of other provisions apart from the ordinance are null.
2. What meant for bank clients the faulty implementation of OUG 50/2010
The clauses regarding fees and interests were changed, but to the detriment of the clients. The
Banks had to switch from non-transparent/internal formulas for calculating interests to transparent
formulas, by applying some reference indicators: Robor/Euribor/Libor, but the resulting margins
were raised in an artificial and abusive manner. This happened because the banks took into
consideration the value of reference indicators from the fall of the year 2010, when these values
were much smaller than those from previous years. Therefore, the resulting fixed margins were
much higher than before, in some cases reaching 8-10 percentages for mortgage loans in foreign
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currency! The banks renamed forbidden fees, such as the risk fee and modified the fixed interest
margins. The clients have therefore paid increased installments.
3. The ANPC acted in a discriminatory manner with regard to the complaints of the clients,
depending on the termination of addenda of aligning to OUG 50
The internal ANPC order no. 358/23.10.2013 regarding the method of dealing with client
complaints about the abusive clauses in contracts produces other shortcomings for the consumers.
Explicitly, this order provided that the complaints on this subject addressed to the County
Commissariats for Consumer Protection (CJPC) be redirected to the ANPC. In case the consumer
denounced abusive clauses in the loan contract, they were sent and could be taken into
consideration at the central level of the ANPC and perhaps only the complaints formulated by the
petitioners who had denounced the addendum of aligning to OUG 50/2010, according to
L88/2010, in January February 2011, could go further to court. But very few consumers had
previously denounced this addendum in this time interval, as the law 288/2010 for modifying the
OUG 50 permitted. Even the complaints of those who had expressly refused, in writing, the
addendum in the interval between September December 2010 were not taken into consideration,
because the ANPC considered the L288 had not entered into force although it was the ANPC who
advised consumers, during that period, to refuse addenda proposed by the banks if they did not
respect the provisions of OUG 50/2010 still unmodified by L288/2010. Therefore, the ANPC,
through an internal order, treated the consumers in a discriminatory manner and blocked the
complaints regarding loan contracts.
This order was revoked on 11.03.2015, all loan consumers being given the right to notify the ANPC
in the purpose of analyzing the credit contract with regard to the existence of abusive clauses,
regardless of the petitioner has denounced or not the OUG 50/2010 through the law 288/2010.
4. Within the ANPC, there is no unitary practice in the process of analyzing and retrieving
solutions for the complaints of petitioners
Subsequently to the order no. 358/23.10.2013, the ANPC faced an avalanche of notifications for
analyzing loan conventions. But the existence of abusive clauses was concluded in very few cases,
conclusion which has as result sending these case to court. It is worth mentioning that these abusive
clauses were notified only in the case of persistent consumers or in the case of those who had
minimum legal knowledge, practically pushing and pulling this institution by offering clear data
(e.g.: reference to a certain law, mentioning a specific case settled in court, etc.) in the complaints
sent/filed to/at ANPC. For the other plaintiffs, the response was the same: the complaint is
unresolvable, or worse, the complaint is UNFOUNDED!
The ANPC lacks a coherent unit of judging complaints, offering contradictory responses to the
same cases. More precisely, on the same type of contracts, some consumers are answered that there
are abusive clauses, and other consumers (with the same type of standard contract, same clauses,
same articles within the contract), in the same contract, are first answered that there are no abusive
clauses, and subsequently that there are abusive clauses!
Most standard answers of the ANPC are structured as follows:
In accordance with the provisions of article 95 paragraph 2, 3 and 5 from the OUG
50/2010, amending the contract was possible until the deadline 20.09.2010, and, if they
were not signed, it was considered they were tacitly accepted;
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In accordance with the provisions of article II from the Law no. 288/2010: (2) The
addenda which are not signed by the consumers, considered as tacitly accepted until the
date when this law enters into force, shall produce effects in accordance with the terms
in which they were formulated, with the exception of the case in which the consumer or
the creditor notifies the other party otherwise, within 60 days from the date the present
law entered into force,
within 60 days from the date the Law 288/2010 entered into force, meaning the interval
between January 03 March 03 2011, neither you, nor the Bank denounced the
addendum; THE COMPLAINT IS UNRESOLVABLE.

Practically, the annulment of that order by the president of the ANPC has produced purely
theoretical results. In reality, absolutely nothing has changed, the responses of this institutions to the
complaints of consumers bearing the proof.
The answers of the ANPC have a serious omission, namely: even if the addenda were not signed
nor denounced by the consumers, according to the provisions of article II of the Law no. 288/2010,
within 60 days, and the addendum was tacitly accepted, the ANPC intentionally omitted the
following:
a. The banks increased the bank margin even if it is fixed throughout the entire
period of the contract and a unilateral amendment is illegal
b. The banks renamed fees
Moreover, the banks did not return to the clients the sums they charged illegally.
5. The ANPC refuses to give the order of halting the incorrect practices of the banks
The day the order 358/2013 was revoked, respectively on 11.05.2015 and in full crisis caused by the
explosion of the Swiss Franc, the law 363/2007 regarding fighting incorrect practices of
merchants was amended. This modification made it impossible for the ANPC to be able to apply
the provisions of the Government Resolution (HG) 1553/2004 regarding halting illicit and incorrect
practices of banks, since they were not included in the annexed list of practices considered incorrect
in any situation, and by modifying the possibility of acknowledging and sanctioning being limited
to these.
There was the need, once more, of consumers pressuring the ANPC, the Government and the
Parliament for this law, working instrument in the consumer protection, to be functional. Only after
declaring the intention of notifying European institutions with regard to these issues was the law
revised through a Government Ordinance.
Based on article 3 paragraph 3 of the HG 1553/2004, which transposes the directive 2009/22/CE of
the European Parliament and of the Council, of April 23rd 2009, regarding the interruption actions
concerning the protection of consumer interests (in the sense of the present directive, a breach
represents any document contrary to the Directive 93/13/CEE of the Council from April 5th 1993
regarding abusive clauses in the contracts signed with the consumers (JO L 95, 21.4.1993, p. 29)
and to the Directive 2005/29/CE of the European Parliament and of the Council from Mai 11 th 3005
regarding disloyal commercial practices of companies from the internal market towards the
consumers (JO L 149, 11.6.2005, p. 22), as they were transposed in the internal legislation, which
causes prejudice to collective interests), the ANPC can decide to halt the incorrect practices of the
banks.
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Starting with June 20th 2015, bank consumers, clients of OTP Bank, have petitioned the ANPC (via
e-mail) to request halting the illicit activities and practices of OTP Bank by applying the sanction of
temporarily suspending the activity of OTP Bank if it does not conform to the ANPC decision
within the term of 20 days provided in paragraph 3 or article 3 of the Government Resolution (HG)
1553/2004. Starting with June 30th and until July 10th 2015, clients of OTP Bank, Bancpost,
Volksbank, Raiffeisen, BCR sent e-mails to ANPC, requesting that this institution decides to stop,
limit or remove the effects of the illicit practices of the banks, in an urgent manner, in maximum 20
days from the date they receive the complaint, according to HG 1553/2004, with the sanction of
temporarily suspending the activity of the banks if they do not conform to the ANPC decisions.
Starting with July 10th 2015, bank consumers have sent petitions not only to the APC (Consumer
Protection Association independent state entity with the ability of notifying illicit practices), but
also the ANPC (which can decide to halt the illicit practices), through which they requested the
acknowledgement and taking the decision, where applicable, of the same measures of halting illicit
practices. The APC notified the ANPC, according to its attributions. In October, the ANPC sends
the response that it refuses to give the order of halting illicit practices. We consider that the ANPC
failed to fulfill its duty of protecting consumers from the continuous abuses of the banks, having
legal leverage tools for taking halting measures. It is true, the measure of closing a bank (in case it
does not comply) is a radical one. However, the rights of the consumer have to be protected and to
constitute a priority.
6. Did the ANPC check if the banks respected the law when signing a loan contract in foreign
currency from the viewpoint of the exchange risk?
As we presented in the content of this petition, at the moment of signing the loan contracts in CHF,
the banks omitted to inform the clients about the risks they expose themselves to by signing a
contract in a safe haven currency, on the contrary, presenting to them the Swiss Franc as being one
of the most stable currencies. In the field of consumer protection, there can be identified a number
of normative documents which establish the role of the professional to inform the consumer with
respect to all the relevant aspects of the contract established by the parties.
The Government Ordinance 21/1992 regarding consumer protection contains a chapter dedicated to
Informing and Educating Consumers, the most relevant law texts comprised in the Ordinance
being Article 3 paragraph b., to be completely, correctly and accurately informed about the
essential characteristics of products and services, so that the decision they take in connection to
these suits their needs as best as possible, Article 18 Consumers have the right to be completely,
correctly and accurately informed about the essential characteristics of products and services by
economic operators (the evolution of the exchange rate is such a characteristic) so they can have
the possibility of making a rational choice, according to their interests, between the offered
products and services, and of being able to use them safely according to their purpose, Article 19
and 20 paragraph 4, Sellers and service providers must inform the consumers about the final price
of the product or about the fee of the provided service ().
These consumer rights are restated in the Law no. 296/2004 regarding the Consumer Code
Article 27, paragraph b, Article 45, Article 47 and Article 48, which provide the professionals
obligation to inform the consumer about the risks he is exposed to by the normal or predictable
use of the goods, this text being applicable to services as well, this being the reasoning behind
the entire regulation. Not just the immediate risks to which the consumers are exposed are taken
into account, but also medium term and long term risks as well, respectively the possibility of
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sustaining an exchange risk which can prove excessive when it lies exclusively in the hands of
the debtor.
This year, in January, as a result of the ANPC blocking halting actions, banking clients
notified the Ombudsperson. The Ombudsperson, in his answer, only mentions that he
addressed the ANPC. The ANPC responded to the Ombudsperson Institution, mentioning it
took all the legal measure to eliminate abusive clauses, within its competence limits, making
reference to the class-action suits filed against several banks.
7. On February 10th 2016, the ANPC won the class action suit with erga omnes effects
against OTP Bank, an irrevocable and final decision which proved the abusive nature of the
interest clause from the OTP Bank contracts. Even to this day, the sentence has not been carried
out. Banking client have publicly ANPC imposes the bank in question to halt the illicit
practices. ANPC did not react, therefore the sentence was not applied.
Postponed justice is denied justice.

Chapter 4: The social consequences of Swiss Franc loans


Ladies and Gentlemen,
The entire generation of those who accessed loans in Swiss Francs between 2006 2008 is now
destroyed from an economic and a social viewpoint. We are talking about middle class people,
about professionals who sacrificed their wellbeing and sometimes even their lives to pay huge bank
installments.
Throughout this entire period, apart from the extreme cases when the debtors cracked under the
pressure of bankers and committed suicide, the impoverished and humiliated generation of debtors
in Swiss Francs suffered irreparable consequences: families torn apart, denied access to education
for their children, dramatically limited basic survival elements: food, clothing, restricted access to
healthcare due to lack of financial resources, restricted access to justice, to file a suit, also due to the
lack of necessary resources, constant stress. In Romania, many of the debtors in Swiss Francs are
almost social welfare cases.
We are aware of numerous cases in which the debtors in Swiss Francs became seriously ill and their
health condition did not improve, on the contrary. Diseases caused by the constant stress of getting
enough money to pay exorbitant installments to the bank, this being possible by depriving the
person from essential elements to maintain a balanced physical and mental state. We are not
discussing persons who have no income, but persons who have a job and who, under normal
conditions, should benefit from the results of their work.
Diabetes, cardiovascular disease, strokes, mental diseases of the debtors but also of their children.
We have come across cases where children threaten to commit suicide because of a childhood lived
in poverty and all kinds of deprivations, despite their parents earning a lot more than the average
income, but the degree of indebtedness exceeds 80% of the incomes! In most cases, these problems
remain unsolved, also due to the lack of money.

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Families being torn apart as one of the members goes to another country to earn enough money so
they could pay installments is another consequence of irresponsible lending in Romania.
Children cannot pursue an education and they are often forced to find a job once they reach
adolescence or maturity, in order to sustain bank installments together with their parents.

Conclusion
Ladies and Gentlemen,
We have tried to briefly present a few aspects which highlight the way in which the fundamental
rights of Romanian citizens to decent living are crushed by the incorrect, abusive, anti-consumer
practices of some banks operating on Romanian territory, as well as by the complete lack of interest
of Romanian authorities which should intervene for the protection of consumers.
Once again we bring to your attention the fact that, after more than one year from the explosion of
the exchange rate CHF/RON, Romania has not adopted any legislative measure to bring balance in
the relationship client-bank, apart from the datio in solutum law which was recently promulgated
but which does not solve the major issues. The law of personal bankruptcy did not enter into force,
the law of conversion does not exist.
The banks remain indifferent to the requests of the clients, the only solutions suggested were results
of lawsuits won in court. The solutions offered by the banks are still abusive, over indebting the
clients instead of offering them the possibility of financial recovery. The lack of communication
and transparency, disloyal practices and false advertising continue to be, unfortunately, the traits
that define most commercial banks in Romania. We are disappointed by the attitude of the BNR in
the issue of protecting debtors, the BNR taking the side of the banks and being in total disagreement
with the debtors. The public messages sent by the BNR to citizens and to the economic environment
were meant to pressure the Parliament with the purpose of halting any legislative action for the
protection of banking clients. From our point of view, BNR shares a common blame with the banks
in Romania concerning the issue of loans in CHF, a macroprudential supervision being a guarantee
of disloyal practices.
We want a law that would support the debtors in CHF, we want a National Authority for Consumer
Protection to defend our rights, we want a National Bank of Romania to respect its statute and
answer to the law when the decisions of those in charge cause the over-indebtedness of the
Romanian population or when they encourage abuse in the banking system. We want a Parliament
which does not give in under the pressure of commercial banks to impose laws that favor them.
We would also like to mention that in other European countries, the authorities have found or they
are debating solutions for the problems of debtors in Swiss Francs. In the first month of this year,
the President of Poland announced the conversion of loans from foreign currency into zloty, the
national Polish currency, at an exchange rate 23% higher than that at which they were given,
according to the examples provided by Polish officials.
In Hungary, all the loans were converted from foreign currency into the national currency,
including the personal loans without mortgage guarantees, at a pre-established rate, prior to the
January 2015 crisis and in convenient conditions for clients.
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In Croatia, the legislative unanimously adopted the law of loan conversion AT THE RATE
FROM THE MOMENT OF GIVING THE LOAN. All politicians set aside party interests and
voted the law in favor of the citizens!
It is time Romanian authorities took measures against the banks which profit from the tragedy of
Romanians. The financial availability or possibility of banks should not be confused with their
responsibility. Clients cannot afford to carry the weight of the mistakes and of the disastrous
lending policies of the banks, under BNR supervision. They have been doing this for almost 10
years. The shareholders of every bank have to assume the mistaken decisions of the managing
members and to intervene by bringing capital, not over-indebting the clients through abusive
clauses and incorrect practices. In the absence of a conversion law, it is assumed a great part of
them would have to keep doing this, with disastrous consequences over the economy and social life
in Romania.
We send this account to you hoping that our dramatic situation will not remain unheard and that our
complaint will have a solution. The petition is signed by over 1000 persons, whose names and
personal data are in the attached table.

With hope,
The Group of Clients with Loans in CHF
through the team of coordinators:
Cristian DAN
Adriana NECULA
Anca SPNU
Ion ROBU
Ionu Nicolae CLIN
Contact person: Adriana NECULA
E-mail address: grupulclientilorcucrediteinchf@gmail.com

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