Spain's antitrust watchdog probes banks over mortgage practices

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria SA

Yesterday 14:45

MADRID, June 16 (Reuters) - Spain's antitrust regulator said on Tuesday it was launching disciplinary proceedings against all six listed lenders in the country, including Santander SAN.MC and BBVA BBVA.MC, for possible anti-competitive practices in the mortgage market.
The CNMC said it was probing whether certain executives had made public statements about their banks' future commercial policies, particularly regarding interest rates on fixed-rate mortgages.
"Such statements would have allowed entities in the sector to anticipate the future behaviour of their competitors," the regulator said in a statement.
The probe comes at a time of fierce competition among Spanish lenders in the mortgage sector. Some banking executives have warned of "irrational" practices to win over customers, with some rates falling below market prices.
Spanish mortgages are among the lowest in the euro zone, with an average rate of 2.81% as of April, compared with the euro zone average of 3.44%, data from the European Central Bank shows.
Caixabank CABK.MC, Unicaja UNI.MC, Bankinter BKT.MC and Sabadell SABE.MC are also part of the probe. All of the banks declined to comment.
Alejandra Kindelan, head of the Spanish banking association, said on Tuesday that the banks complied with the law.
"We have the most competitive mortgage market in Europe," she added.
The opening of the investigation does not prejudge an outcome, the CNMC said, adding it had a 24-month deadline to reach a final decision.

(Reporting by Jesús Aguado; editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)
((jesus.aguado@thomsonreuters.com; +34 91 835 68 32; Reuters Messaging: Reuters Messaging: jesus.aguado.reuters.com@reuters.net))