The Romanian Banks Association (ARB) said on Thursday that the Competition Council’s decision to fine several banks over the setting of the ROBOR interbank rate raises concerns over legal certainty, economic predictability and the credibility of the Romanian state, while calling for the publication of the authority’s reasoning and the evidence underpinning the decision.
The Competition Council recently fined ten banks a total of 3.73 billion lei for breaching competition rules under Romania’s Competition Law and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union by coordinating their conduct during the ROBOR-setting process, agerpres reports.
„The Romanian banking community maintains that the Competition Council’s decision, adopted without identifying the specific legal provisions allegedly breached, and the authority’s refusal to attend a dealing room session to observe how trading operations are actually conducted, raise serious issues of legal certainty, economic predictability and the credibility of the Romanian state. Banks did not exchange information among themselves or engage in any practice that could compromise the functioning of the money market or harm customers,” ARB said in a statement.
According to the association, banks had invited Competition Council representatives to observe dealing room sessions, but the invitations were declined.
„Had Competition Council representatives attended a dealing room session, they would have observed the operational processes, regulatory constraints and the actual mechanisms of the money market. In an unprecedented gesture of transparency, the Romanian Banks Association offered its technical support to clarify any aspects related to the functioning of financial markets, given that the evolution of the ROBOR index is determined by money market fundamentals, not by agreements between banks,” ARB said.
The banking community called for the publication of the full fining decision, the procedure by which it was adopted by the Competition Council’s plenary, as well as disclosure of the votes, reasoning and evidence supporting the decision.
„The Competition Council has failed to answer the fundamental question of what specific conduct justified sanctions of such magnitude or to convincingly demonstrate the banks’ alleged wrongdoing. These unprecedented fines appear to be linked to factors external to the banking sector and driven by circumstantial considerations. The banking sector has consistently acted in good faith and remained open to dialogue with the authorities,” ARB said.
According to the association, this is not the first time the Competition Council has examined the same market and institutional framework, but its current conclusions are „diametrically opposed, abusive and unsupported by concrete arguments.”
„The conclusions appear to have been dictated this year by Competition Council President Bogdan Chiritoiu, who seems to have turned the case into a personal battle. We believe it is unprecedented to classify as anti-competitive an activity that has been carried out for decades under the supervision of the competent authorities and in full compliance with legislation known to all institutions involved,” ARB said.
The association argued that a professional public institution should have thoroughly consulted the National Bank of Romania, participated in dealing room sessions, understood the functioning of the money market and refrained from creating a presumption of guilt or encouraging customer litigation before the courts had ruled.
„The absence of such conduct undermines the credibility of the Romanian state, and we believe this abuse must be challenged through legal means. Should evidence of criminal offences be identified, we call for criminal liability to be pursued against those whose actions or omissions led to such an abuse,” ARB said.
The banking community added that it would use all available legal avenues to challenge what it considers to be a fundamentally flawed decision.