PKO BP signed 38.4k settlements with CHF borrowers by end-March

PKO Bank Polski registered 59 thousand mediation requests and signed 38.4 thousand settlements with holders of loans denominated in Swiss francs by the end of March this year, the bank said.

By 31 March 2024, 59,000 mediation requests were registered, 38,855 mediations ended positively, 13,572 mediations ended negatively. The total number of settlements concluded by 31 March 2024 was 38,428, of which 36,585 settlements were concluded in mediation proceedings and 1,843 settlements in litigation, according to the quarterly report.

PKO BP in the first quarter of this year continued to offer settlements to individual customers with active mortgage-backed loans in CHF. The settlement involves the conversion of a CHF loan into a PLN loan, as if the loan had been a PLN loan from the outset, bearing interest at the WIBOR reference rate plus the margin historically applied to such loans. Settlements are proposed in the course of mediation proceedings conducted by the Mediation Centre of the Court of Arbitration at the Polish Financial Supervision Authority (KNF). The bank is also proposing settlements on a large scale for loans subject to court proceedings, it reported.

As at 31 March 2024, there were 33,148 legal proceedings pending against the bank (as at 31 December 2023: 30,498) relating to mortgage loans granted in previous years in foreign currency with a total value in dispute of PLN 13,247 million (as at 31 December 2023: PLN 11,948 million), including one group proceeding with 72 loan agreements, the bank reported.

As at 31 March 2024, the total value of the subject matter in litigation (trials) pending in which PKO BP Group companies are defendants amounted to PLN 14,497 million (31 December 2023: PLN 13,110 million), and the total value of the subject matter in litigation (trials) pending from Group companies as at 31 March 2024 amounted to PLN 4,374 million (31 December 2023: PLN 4,519 million), the report stated.

The Group monitors on an ongoing basis the status of court case law in cases of loans indexed or denominated to a foreign currency with a view to the development and possible changes in case law lines, it further indicated.

By 31 March 2024, the courts had issued 3,372 final judgments in cases against the bank (including 3,329 judgments after 3 October 2019). 187 of these rulings (including 146 rulings after 3 October 2019) are in favour of the bank (By 31 December 2023, in cases against the bank, the courts had issued 2,696 final rulings (including 2,653 rulings after 3 October 2019). 138 of these rulings (including 97 rulings after 3 October 2019) were in favour of the bank), listed in the report.

PKO Bank Polski is the leader of the Polish banking sector. The bank's shares have been listed on the WSE since November 2004; it is part of the WIG20 index. The bank's total assets amounted to PLN 501.5 billion at the end of 2023.

Source: PKO BP and ISBnews