Frequently Asked Questions

The claim is against 12 major financial institutions:  
  
•    Abanca Corporación Bancaria, S.A.;  
•    Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria, S.A.;  
•    Banco BPI, S.A. 
•    Banco Comercial Português, S.A.; 
•    Banco Santander Totta, S.A. (& Banco Popular); 
•    Banif - Banco Internacional do Funchal, S.A.; 
•    Barclays Bank Plc;
•    Caixa Central – Caixa Central de Crédito Agrícola Mútuo, CRL;  
•    Caixa Económica Montepio Geral, Caixa Económica Bancária, S.A.; 
•    Caixa Geral de Depósitos, S.A.; 
•    Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft; 
•    Unión de Créditos Inmobiliarios, S.A.. 

The following banks are in liquidation and Ius has not filed actions against them:

•    Banco BIC Português, S.A. (previously Banco Português de Negócios); 
•    Banco Espírito Santo, S.A.;  

All of these 14 banks were found to have participated in an anticompetitive practice declared by the Competition Authority, AdC, which took place from May 2002 to March 2013.  

Copies of the Decision and Judgements relating to this case can be found here: AdC's website

The members of this cartel exchanged sensitive commercial information concerning the offer of retail credit products: mortgages, consumer credit and SME credit. For 11 years, they informed each other, namely, about the prices (spreads) they were going to offer on the market.

Due to the actions of the Portuguese banking cartel, there was an artificial reduction of competition on these markets. This resulted in consumers paying extra fees on mortgages and consumer credit directly, and businesses paying more for credit and passing on these additional costs to consumers in the prices of the products and services they sold to them.

Ius is asking the Court to grant compensation to consumers for the damage caused by the banking cartel. In the case of contracts which are still ongoing, it is also asking that the price (spread) be reduced for the future to eliminate the effects of the cartel.

You do not need to know if your bank participated in the cartel to know if you were affected. Ius argues that the cartel caused the spreads for all mortgages, consumer and SME credit to go up, even for non-participating banks.

You are likely to have been affected if you fall into any one of the listed categories:

1) You reside in Portugal and took out a mortgage and/or consumer credit with any Portuguese bank between May 2002 and March 2013;
2) You reside in Portugal and acquired goods or services from Portuguese small and medium undertakings who had credit from Portuguese banks between May 2002 and March 2013;
3) You do not reside in Portugal and you took out a mortgage and/or consumer credit with any Portuguese bank between May 2002 and March 2013.

If you are only in group (3), you are not automatically represented in this claim. Please register and contact Ius for more information on how to defend your rights.

In short, the exchange of sensitive information about prices and other commercial conditions of mortgage, consumer, and SME(s) credit agreements resulting in anti-competitive effects on the corresponding market.

At least between 2002 and 2013, these banks exchanged, voluntarily and consciously, on a regular basis, sensitive and strategic information concerning prices, quantities (volume of credit), and other commercial conditions related to mortgage and consumer credit offerings, which was not publicly available or could not be easily obtained. The exchanges included information on the intention to alter and/or maintain commercial conditions in the near future or currently. They would exchange this information in multilateral and bilateral contacts, by email, phone and in other ways.

The banks acted with the aim of replacing the risk of competition with practical coordination, thereby artificially enhancing knowledge among themselves. Imagine a market where companies call up their competitor to tell them what prices they are about to offer to their potential clients. This is not the behaviour of companies competing on price. They allowed competitors involved in the exchange of information to remove or mitigate the risk and uncertainty typically associated with the strategic behavior of each competitor.

Ten banks appealed the CA decision to the Portuguese Competition court. The Court has already confirmed the facts supporting the infringement as alleged by the AdC, rejecting the banks' defense. The full first-instance judgment is pending, awaiting the response of the Court of Justice of the European Union to questions submitted. The Advocate General, Member States, and the European Commission have expressed support for the Competition Authority's decision. A final judgement on the appeal is expected in the coming months.

No. The criteria by which banks engage with clients are established and overseen by the regulator. You can wait until the courts declare that you are owed compensation, and only then ask for compensation from the entity responsible for distributing the compensation. This entity is likely not to be your bank.

Representative actions generally take a few years to resolve. How long the case takes to resolve will depend to a large extent on the attitude of the banks. In order to stay up to date with developments, please register your interest.

This claim is funded by one of the largest European specialized litigation funders, the Augusta group, based in the UK.

The funder is, by law and contract, completely hands-off. It has no control or say in how the action is framed and pursued. The funding agreement specifically foresees that Ius is completely independent from the funder and must always act in accordance with the best interests of the represented consumers.

If the claim is successful and you are found to have been affected, each consumer will receive 100% of the compensation.