Magyarországi Volksbank fined HUF 50m for early FX repayment request form

Competition

Hungarian financial market regulator PSzÁF on Tuesday said it fined Austrian-owned Magyarországi Volksbank HUF 50m for using an improper request form for participation in an early FX repayment scheme.

The government scheme allows early repayment of foreign currency-denominated mortgages in full at a discounted exchange rate.

The Magyarországi Volksbank form required clients to promise repayment of the difference between the discounted rate and the market rate if Hungary's Constitutional Court rules against the measure.

PSzÁF said on October 3 it launched an investigation because the request form could be considered an unfair trade practice, and it prohibited its use.

PSzÁF said on Tuesday that Volksbank must remove the clause from contracts already signed and report back by October 15.

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