Ius Omnibus asserted today that the Constitutional Court’s judgment of August 25 confirming the annulment of €225 million in fines for the “Bank Cartel” is the first step for a faster victory for consumers, not an acquittal for the banks. The court’s ruling, which is based on a statute of limitations, means that there is no longer a reason to suspend the actions for damages for consumers filed by Ius. Portuguese consumers can now expect to be compensated faster than if the appeals against the AdC Decision had dragged on for years.
The cartel, a deliberate scheme among 14 banks to exchange sensitive, non-public information about prices and other commercial conditions of mortgages, consumer and SME(s) credit, from 2002 to 2013, systematically undermined competition and inflicted financial harm on consumers through inflated prices for home loans, consumer credit, and loans to small and medium-sized businesses.
The Constitutional court’s decision leaves untouched the Competition Authority and Competition Court’s finding that the infringement existed. This infringement can now be proven again at the same court in the civil actions.
Ius Omnibus’ actions to compensate consumers
Ius strives to ensure that consumers are duly compensated for the damages caused by these banks, which amount to 6 billion euros. For more information on the banking cartel and other Ius class actions, please see: https://carteldabanca.pt/en and https://iusomnibus.eu/cases/.
You have been harmed by the banking cartel and are represented in these class actions if:
a) is currently resident in Portugal.
and
b) took out a mortgage or consumer credit with a Portuguese bank between May 2002 and March 2013.
and/or
c) purchased products / services from small and medium-sized Portuguese companies during the same period.
To make sure you don’t miss out on the opportunity to get your compensation if these popular actions are successful, register at https://carteldabanca.pt/en/our-cases/banking-cartel/register/#register.