Consumers forced to become shareholders in order to obtain a subsidized loan in order to finance the share capital increase operations carried out in 2013 and 2014. An unfair commercial practice for which the Antitrust fined 4 million and 500.000 euros Banca Popolare di Vicenza.
According to the Competition and Market Authority, in the period 2013-April 2015 the Bank made the disbursement of loans to consumers conditional on the purchase by them of their own shares or convertible bonds, in order to achieve success of the aforementioned capital increase transactions and achieve the objectives set therein.
In particular, to obtain the cc.dd. "shareholder mortgages", characterized by favorable economic conditions compared to mortgage products
ordinary, consumers were conditioned: i) to purchase minimum blocks of shares in the Bank (equal to 100 shares) and ii) not to sell these blocks of shares, in order to continue to benefit from the favorable economic conditions.
Furthermore, at the same time as signing the "mutual shareholder loan", consumers were also induced to open a current account
reserved for shareholders with the prospect of the need to establish a new current account relationship with the Bank for the purpose of perfecting the shareholder loan and the possibility of taking advantage of the advantages of being a shareholder also in this relationship.
The Antitrust has found that the conduct of Banca Popolare di Vicenza has considerably limited the freedom of choice of
consumers in relation to the loan products, inducing them to take a commercial decision that they would not otherwise have taken: i.e., the subscription of securities of the Bank (securities that are moreover difficult to negotiate and liquidate, given the nature of Banca Popolare di Vicenza as an unlisted company, and which during the course of the loan could not be divested, on pain of losing the facilitated economic conditions envisaged). The Antitrust has also ascertained that Banca Popolare di Vicenza, forcing consumers also to open a shareholder current account linked to the loan, has put in place a mortgage-current account binding practice prohibited by the Consumer Code .
