Our Cases
Banks engaged in covert practices, and you paid the price.
The value of damage was assessed by specialized economists from an international consultancy (Copenhagen Economics). They determined the total amount of credit affected by this cartel, and how much lower the spreads offered by the banks would have been in the absence of the cartel. They did this using a method set out in the European Commission’s communication on how to quantify damages in such cases. Their conclusions were revised and confirmed by a Portuguese economic expert, Professor Abel Mateus (the first president of the Competition Authority).
From this perspective, at the very least, according to the economists' calculations, the banking cartel had, by the end of 2022, caused damage of at least €5,368 million. This includes damage caused in mortgages, consumer credit and credit to SMEs. Ius argues that consumers were are also harmed by the surcharge in SME credit, because SMEs ‘passed-on’ those added costs to consumers.
There were more than 8 million consumers affected by the banking cartel.
The claim value is worth over 5,500 EUR in damages.
Fourteen banks were alleged to have engaged in the cartel, comprising 80-90% of the market.
On 18 January 2024, at the Portuguese Competition Court, Ius submitted five popular actions aimed at demanding that 12 banks acting in Portugal compensate consumers for the damages caused by a cartel in violation of EU competition law, already declared by the Portuguese Competition Authority, namely a continuous exchange of sensitive information about prices and other commercial conditions of mortgages, consumer and SME(s) credit, for 11 years, from 2002 to 2013 (the relevant period).
The Competition Court already accepted the five actions and ordered the serving of the claim on the defendants and the notification of the represented consumers.
Defenses have already been received in the ABanca and Deutsche Bank cases.
The Court suspended the Mortgages/Consumer Credit case, in which nine banks are Defendants, prior to the submission of Defenses. Ius appealed this suspension.
Major Portuguese banks exchanged sensitive information about pricing and competition.
This collaboration resulted in reduced competition, resulting in elevated interest rates and fees for individuals.
They were fined millions of euros by the authorities for breaking competition laws.
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Ius Omnibus is a consumer association registered with the Portuguese Directorate General for Consumers and appointed by the Government to the Portuguese Advisory Council on Consumers and is a qualified entity listed by the European Commission under the Representative Actions Directive.
