Although the number of active Swiss franc loans is steadily decreasing, there are still several hundred thousand Poles repaying mortgages indexed or denominated in the Swiss franc. It is true that some banks have launched settlement programmes for their customers, but nevertheless many Swiss franc loan holders decide to pursue their rights in court. Cases involving Swiss franc loans also continue to be the subject of numerous requests to the Financial Ombudsman, who has just published an analysis of issues relating to Swiss franc loans.
The analysis conducted by the Financial Ombudsman’s Office of the legal situation and legal and economic events in 2021 indicates an increasingly uniform and pro-consumer interpretation in Polish and EU case-law. In the majority of cases decided in common courts of law, the prohibited nature of the provisions of Swiss franc loan agreements is acknowledged, particularly concerning the conversion mechanism contained therein.
According to various data, there are currently approx. 70 thousand lawsuits in Swiss franc cases in courts of first instance, in second instance – about 4 thousand. Some of the pending Swiss franc proceedings have been suspended pending a comprehensive resolution on Swiss franc loans by the Supreme Court, which has decided to refer a question to the Court of Justice of the European Union for a preliminary ruling in this regard.
The Financial Ombudsman has been involved in helping consumers who are Swiss franc loan holders since the inception of the office. The Financial Ombudsman presented his first report, a legal analysis of selected contractual provisions used by banks in indexed and denominated loan agreements, in June 2016. Since then, the Financial Ombudsman’s Office has been approached by more than 11,000 customers for support in matters related to Swiss franc loans.
The Financial Ombudsman also systematically analyses case-law related to so-called foreign currency loans. In a document just published, the Financial Ombudsman discusses the most important legal issues faced by borrowers and examines the case-law of national and EU courts. He also presents issues that the Financial Ombudsman considers need to be resolved because of their importance for the rights of consumer borrowers.
We invite you to read the document.
