The Competition Authority concluded the investigation on 13 banks providing loans to corporate customers in order to determine whether Article 4 of the Competition Act No. 4054 prohibiting anti-competitive agreements had been violated through exchange of information concerning conditions of loans such as interest and terms with respect to current loan agreements as well as exchange of sensitive information regarding other financial transactions. With the decision dated 28.11.2017 and numbered 17-39/636-276 the Competition Board decided that
- Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Turkey A.Ş.,
- ING Bank A.Ş. and
- The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc. Merkezi Edinburgh İstanbul Merkez Şubesi (The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc. Edinburgh İstanbul Main Branch)
had violated Article 4 of the Competition Act No.4054. Therefore,
- ING Bank A.Ş. was fined TL 21,112,960.50
- The Royal Bank of Scotland Plc. Edinburgh İstanbul Main Branch was fined TL 66,429.75.
Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ Turkey A.Ş. was not fined due to its cooperation with the Turkish Competition Authority although it had to be fined 1.5% of its annual gross revenue absent that cooperation.
Finally, it was decided that
- Citibank A.Ş.,
- Deutsche Bank A.Ş.,
- HSBC Bank A.Ş.,
- JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Merkezi Columbus Ohio İstanbul Türkiye Şubesi (JPMorgan Chase Bank N.A. Headquarters Columbus Ohio İstanbul Turkey Branch),
- MerriII Lynch Yatırım Bank A.Ş.,
- Société Générale (S.A.) Paris Merkezi Fransa İstanbul Türkiye Merkez Şubesi (Société Générale (S.A.) Paris Headquarters France İstanbul Turkey Main Branch),
- Standard Chartered Yatırım Bankası Türk A.Ş.,
- Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation,
- Türk Ekonomi Bankası A.Ş. and
- UBS AG
had not violated the Competition Act No.4054 and therefore should not be fined.
The press release dated 29.11.2017 is available via http://www.rekabet.gov.tr/en/Guncel/investigation-on-13-banks-operating-in-t-ab47705500d5e71180de0050568d4f05