Competition authority fines banks €225 million

Portugal’s competition authority AdC has dished out fines totalling €225 million to 14 Portuguese banks.

The AdC did this because it says these banks shared information with each other about their special commercial offers which undermined competition and in effect created a cartel.
By doing this consumers were effectively stitched up because they were unable to benefit from more competitive conditions they would have enjoyed had the information not been shared and offers not fixed secretly by the cartel.
However, many banks are likely to contest the decision at an appeal court. The banks that have been fined are: Caixa Geral de Depósitos (€82 million), BCP (€60 million), Santander Totta (€35.6 million), BPI €30 million, Montepio (€13 million), BBVA (€2.5 million), BES (€700,000), BIC (€500,000), Caixa de Crédito Agrícola (€350,000), Deutsche Bank (€350,000), UCI (€150,000), Banif (€1000).
The three financial products affected are mortgages, personal loans and company loans.