BRATISLAVA, August 4, (WEBNOVINY) — The Antitrust Office announced on Thursday it was already analyzing information acquired by its investigation of a potential cartel agreement thwarting competition among bank in Slovakia. The office requested relevant documents and information from the National Bank of Slovakia, the Finance Ministry, as well as the relevant banks. The Antitrust Office’s spokeswoman, Alena Sedlakova, said that the office is analyzing the obtained information and will potentially request additional data to examine the motion. The Antitrust Office will not comment on the results of the investigation for the time being. The Antitrust Office confirmed investigation of a suspected cartel agreement among banks in early February of this year. A few days before that, Finance Minister Ivan Miklos said that prices of bank loans and fees in Slovakia are inappropriately high. Therefore, the ministry wants to systematically address the area, Miklos told a news conference back then. The minister further expressed a suspicion of a potential cartel agreement among banks. “We want to dedicate attention to this issue in a more complex way and of course in cooperation with the central bank, as well as the antitrust authority, as it has to be investigated whether the current increase in fees is a potential cartel action or cartel agreement,” Miklos pointed out then.
The banks however protested against statements of the Finance Ministry and say there is no such agreement on the banking market. “There is no agreement on prices or rates in the banking sector, which would also be confirmed by a possible Antitrust Office investigation; we therefore will not resist such activity,” stated an analyst with the Slovak Banking Association (SBA) Marcel Laznia.
The banking sector in Slovakia posted a profit of EUR 431.4 million in the first half of this year. Pursuant to data published by the National Bank of Slovakia, banks bolstered their taxed profit 79.4 percent year-on-year. Net interest income swelled 8.7 percent from a year ago to EUR 892 million. Net income from fees and commissions grew 4.7 percent y/y to EUR 227.4 million. The volume of provisions and reserves decreased considerably, namely by 66.3 percent to EUR 62.9 million.
SITA