OREANDA-NEWS. February 10, 2014. The Federal Antimonopoly Service (FAS Russia) initiated a case against “Bank PSA Finance RUS” Ltd. and “Rusfinance Bank” Ltd. upon signs of violating Part 4 Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” (competition-restricting agreements of economic entities).

The case was initiated upon the findings of a scheduled on-site inspection of “Bank PSA Finance RUS” Ltd. The inspection revealed that “Bank PSA Finance RUS” Ltd. did not have a license for attracting deposits of monetary resources from physical sources, and concluded a contract with “Rusfinance Bank” Ltd. for rendering such services.

Under the contract, “Rusfinance Bank” Ltd. provides to the counteragent the services for opening and maintaining accounts of physical persons that decided to take advantage of the auto loan services rendered by “Rusfinance Bank” Ltd.

Also “Rusfinance Bank” Ltd. analyses questionnaires and auto loan applications filled in by potential borrowers of “Bank PSA Finance RUS” Ltd. at a fee, and verifies credibility of the borrowers, co-borrowers and sureties.

In the version valid throughout the period in question, the contracts provide for “Rusfinance Bank” Ltd. refusing to use the obtained information to offer motor-vehicle-related services of “Rusfinance Bank” Ltd. to physical persons, including auto loans, both within the period of the contract validity and after the contract expires.

Based on the contract content, the restriction did not apply to other services, not related to motor vehicles, particularly, general loans and credit cards.

Since “Rusfinance Bank” Ltd. is also a participant of the auto loan market, the actions of credit organizations have signs of violating Part 4 Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition”. By concluding the contract under such conditions, “Rusfinance Bank” Ltd. refused to compete with “Bank PSA Finance RUS” Ltd. and offer any motor-vehicle-related services to the physical persons who approached its counteragent.

The date of the case consideration shall be determined within 15 days after the date of initiating the case.

Reference:

Part 4 Article 11 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” prohibits other agreements between economic entities if it is established that such agreements lead or can lead to restricted competition.

Under Clause 17 Article 4 of the Federal Law “On Protection of Competition” a refusal by economic entities, that are not members of the same group of persons, from independent actions on the market is a sign of restricting competition.