Romania’s Competition Council has imposed total fines of 3.73 billion lei (approximately €710 million) in the ROBOR investigation, more than 20 times higher than the minimum level anticipated by sources consulted by NewsCenter.ro at the end of May. In several cases, the penalties exceed 6% to 9% of the banks’ annual revenues. NewsCenter.ro began seeking reactions from the banks involved and from banking industry associations as early as mid-May, but received no responses.
On June 7, the Competition Council confirmed one of the most significant investigations in the history of Romania’s banking sector and sanctioned ten credit institutions for coordinating their conduct during the process used to determine ROBOR, Romania’s interbank benchmark lending rate. The total value of the fines amounts to 3.73 billion lei, equivalent to approximately €710 million.
Fines far higher than NewsCenter’s initial estimates and information
The decision comes nearly two weeks after NewsCenter.ro reported, based on information obtained from sources involved in the investigation, that the case was moving toward sanctions and that penalties could start at the minimum level of around 0.5% of each bank’s 2025 turnover.
The reality proved far more severe. Even so, NewsCenter reported the upcoming sanctions before the official announcement.
The information obtained by our publication was inaccurate in this respect, partly because NewsCenter.ro had information indicating that the National Bank of Romania (BNR) had intervened with the Competition Council in favor of the lowest possible level of sanctions. As of publication, BNR’s management has not responded to our questions regarding this matter.
What is certain is that, instead of the approximately 180 million lei (€35 million) in penalties estimated by NewsCenter.ro for the entire banking system, the Competition Council imposed fines exceeding 3.73 billion lei—more than twenty times higher than the minimum scenario discussed in May.
The largest fines in the history of Romania’s banking market
The Competition Council sanctioned:
- Banca Transilvania – 875.74 million lei; approximately 9.2% of its 2025 operating revenues;
- Banca Transilvania (for conduct committed by OTP Bank Romania) – 85.03 million lei;
- BCR – 577.36 million lei; approximately 8.8% of 2025 operating revenues;
- Raiffeisen Bank Romania – 442.49 million lei; approximately 12.6% of operating revenues;
- UniCredit Bank – 431.03 million lei; approximately 8.8% of operating revenues;
- BRD Groupe Société Générale – 412.47 million lei; approximately 9.6% of operating revenues;
- ING Bank Romania – 405.91 million lei; approximately 10% of operating revenues;
- CEC Bank – 332.98 million lei; approximately 9.8% of 2025 operating revenues;
- Exim Banca Românească – 96.49 million lei; approximately 11.65% of 2025 operating revenues;
- Libra Internet Bank – 45.86 million lei; approximately 6.88% of 2025 operating revenues;
- Intesa Sanpaolo Romania – 28.1 million lei; approximately 3.5%–4.3% of operating revenues.
What the Competition Council found
According to the official statement, the investigation found that banks participating in the ROBOR fixing process exchanged information considered confidential and strategic and coordinated their conduct during the benchmark-setting procedure.
The Competition Council stated:
„Following the investigation, the authority found that the banks participating in the determination of ROBOR coordinated their conduct through the exchange of confidential and strategic information, particularly regarding pricing, concerning the level of ROBOR during the fixing procedure.”
According to the authority, the issue was not the existence of the fixing process itself, but rather the way information was exchanged and used during the period in which each bank was expected to independently formulate its own quotations.
„Specifically, during the fixing procedure, when firm quotations should be submitted independently, the banks coordinated their conduct based on the quotations of their competitors.”
The Competition Council further emphasized that the independence of quotations is particularly important for the three-, six-, and twelve-month maturities, where the volume of actual transactions is limited and transaction averages cannot serve as sufficiently reliable indicators.
Impact on Borrowers
The authority stressed that the outcome of the ROBOR fixing procedure directly affects borrowing costs for companies and for individuals whose older loan contracts remain linked to ROBOR.
„The outcome of the fixing procedure is used in calculating interest rates for certain loans. A higher level of this index may benefit lenders, but it directly affects consumers and other borrowers whose contracts are linked to ROBOR.”
Competition Council President Bogdan Chirițoiu explained that the investigation did not concern monetary policy or banking regulations, but exclusively the competitive conduct of the institutions involved.
„Our decision did not concern banking regulations or sectoral policies. It relates exclusively to the conduct of banks during the ROBOR fixing process and is based solely on violations of competition rules.”
Chirițoiu added that the authority possesses a substantial body of evidence and that even very small changes in ROBOR can generate significant financial consequences when applied to large loan portfolios.
„We have a comprehensive body of evidence that must be assessed as a whole. Given the large volume of loans, even variations measured in fractions of a percentage point can generate substantial amounts.”
NewsCenter reported the upcoming sanctions before the official announcement
On May 26, NewsCenter.ro published information obtained from sources within both the banking sector and the Competition Council indicating that the ROBOR investigation would be concluded in June or July and that banks were already expecting sanctions.
At the time, sources estimated that the authority might opt for fines close to the legal minimum threshold of around 0.5% of turnover. NewsCenter.ro also reported on discussions between representatives of the National Bank of Romania and the Competition Council, as well as concerns within the banking industry regarding the outcome of the investigation.
The decision announced this week demonstrates that the Competition Council’s Plenum ultimately chose one of the toughest sanctioning approaches in the institution’s recent history.
The banks now have 30 days to challenge the decision before the Court of Appeal. Once the detailed reasoning is formally communicated, they will have 60 days to submit compliance plans aimed at eliminating the anti-competitive practices identified by the authority.
The fines are immediately enforceable and will be collected by Romania’s National Agency for Fiscal Administration (ANAF), becoming revenue for the state budget.
