Competition Watchdog: No Bank Interest Cartel in Bulgaria

Bulgarian competition watchdog has pronounced that there is no bank cartel for loan interest in the country.

Bulgaria's Commission Protection Competition has declared that there is no bank cartel for interest on loans and deposits in the country.

There is no evidence for breach of competition law on the part of the Association of Banks in Bulgaria, states an official announcement from the Commission.

The state watchdog has investigated documents recovered from the Association's office.

The investigation procedure was launched following signals from the Center on Human Rights and the National Association of Bulgarian Businesses regarding an ubiquitous steep hike of interest rates for consumer loans and mortgages in the end of 2008.

The protocols and other documents of the Association of Banks present no actions that can be deemed unlawful coordination of banks to limit or obstruct effective competition.

Association of Banks in Bulgaria representatives have been discussing changes in regulation of interests and benchmarking techniques, which, according to the Competition Commission “could lead to coordination of market behavior of market actors”.

“At the present moment, however, there is not conclusive evidence enough for exchange of sensitive information or undertaking of coordinated actions aimed at coordinating a common price policy among the member of the Association”, specifies the Commission's decision.

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