Representatives of the Competition Council on Tuesday conducted surprise inspections at the headquarters of several commercial banks, suspecting that the financial institutions entered into a conspiracy among themselves to fix interest rates on loans, official sources told Hotnews.

The information first appeared on Profit.ro.

According to this publication, inspectors from the Competition Council on Tuesday visited the offices of the country’s commercial banks, which are suspected of a cartel agreement in connection with reports in the Credit Bureau.

The control, which lasted until late Tuesday evening, was aimed at gathering evidence to confirm the anti-competitive agreement, checking bankers’ computers, e-mails and telephones.

Last November, the bankruptcy institution conducted surprise inspections of 10 banks suspected of creating a cartel to set the ROBOR index, according to which part of Romanians’ loans are calculated.

What are surprise checks?

Unannounced inspections are authorized by the Bucharest Court of Appeal. Thus, the inspectors seek to obtain the information and documents necessary to find out whether an anti-competitive practice exists.

Unannounced inspections are an important step in the investigation procedures of possible anti-competitive behavior, but are not a preliminary judgment on the companies’ guilt.

If the Competition Council finds a violation of the competition rules, the companies involved face a fine of up to 10% of the turnover.

Companies that cooperate with the competition authority under the leniency program can receive immunity from the fine or a significant reduction of it.

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