Today, requests by PS, PCP, and Chega were voted on for hearings regarding various entities in the case known as the “banking cartel” and the dismissal of 225 million euros in fines imposed by the Competition Authority on banks, meaning they won’t pay any amount.
Due to disagreements among parliamentary groups about which entities should be heard—specifically whether the main banks should be called individually, with PS being in favor and PSD against—some requests were voted on separately.
As a result, it was approved to call the Bank of Portugal (BdP), the Competition Authority (AdC), and the Portuguese Banking Association (APB) for hearings.
Conversely, hearings for Caixa Geral de Depósitos, BCP, Santander Totta, and BPI, a proposal from PS, were rejected.
In September 2024, the Competition Tribunal confirmed the fines of 225 million euros imposed by the Competition Authority on 11 banks, concluding that between 2002 and 2013, there was “collusion” to exchange information on lending and that they “aligned business practices,” distorting competition.
The banks appealed, and the Court of Appeal declared the infraction time-barred, taking into account the time the case was under consideration by the European judiciary. Appeals to the Constitutional Court were also rejected, resulting in the fines being definitively annulled.
In July, the AdC president informed parliament that the judiciary had not absolved the banks of infractions. Regarding the dismissal of the fines, he mentioned a “significant contradiction” in the appellate court’s precedent.
However, he noted that this issue will not arise in future cases due to the 2022 amendment to the Competition Law, which clearly states that the statute of limitations is suspended as long as there is a judicial appeal.
When asked whether an interpretative law would be important to clarify that ongoing cases are suspended while under consideration by the Court of Justice of the European Union, the AdC president responded that such a decision falls under the purview of parliament as the legislator.
