By its unanimous Decision no. 853/2024, adopted in plenary, in the context of the simplified Settlement Procedure (SP) laid down in Article 29A of Law 3959/2011, as in force, and according to its Decision no 790/2022, the Hellenic Competition Commission (HCC) accepted the settlement proposals submitted by the undertaking “HSBC CONTINENTAL EUROPE” on 30.07.2024, following a Statement of Objections by the Commissioner-Rapporteur P. Fotis, and imposed a reduced fine amounting to €21,375.4 for the infringement of Article 1 of Greek Law 3959/2011 and Article 101 TFEU, as established according to the grounds of the Decision.
The above settling undertaking, which committed an infringement of Article 1 of Greek Law 3959/2011 and Article 101 TFEU according to the evidence available, expressed in writing its interest to engage in settlement discussions and submitted a relevant request, in accordance with para. 16 of the HCC’s Settlement Procedure Notice.
In accordance with the SO of the Commissioner-Rapporteur, the Plenary of the HCC held that HSBC engaged in concerted practice together with other banking institutions[1] regarding the adoption of a new pricing model (namely, zero fees applicable to bilateral agreements between banking institutions and switching to Direct Access Fee – DAF) for ATM cash withdrawal transactions using cards issued by domestic payment service providers (PSPs) participating in the DIASATM network, in breach of Articles 1 (1) of Law 3959/2011 and 101 (1) TFEU. The passive role of HSBC in the above described practice and the limited number of ATMs that the Bank possessed in the Greek territory, do not remove, according to the unanimous decision of the HCC, the unlawful nature of its participation in the above infringement found and cannot exempt it from the liability it incurs as a consequence of its participation therein as, in any event, HSBC did not publicly distance itself from the above infringement in such a way that other participants would consider it as ending its participation therein or report the infringement to the administrative authorities.
According to the grounds of the Decision, the available evidence shows that the above banking institution engaged in the following practices that infringe Article 1 of Law 3959/2011 and Article 101 TFEU by effect, consisting, in particular, in:
- A single and continuous infringement from 13.07.2018 to 28.07.2023, which consist in the following practice:
- Agreement and/or concerted practice between Piraeus Bank, NBG, Alpha Bank Eurobank, Attica Bank and HSBC regarding the adoption of a new pricing model (direct access fee – DAF) for ATM cash withdrawal transactions using cards issued by domestic payment service providers (PSPs) within the DIASATM network.
By virtue of para. 35 of HCC Decision no. 790/2022 and according to the reasoning of the Statement of Objections of the Commissioner-Rapporteur, the HCC Plenary decided as follows:
A. Finds that the undertaking under the name “HSBC CONTINENTAL EUROPE” infringed, according to the grounds of the Decision, Article 1 of Greek Law 3959/2011 and Article 101 TFEU, by participating in prohibited concerted practice through the practice described above, in the context of the Settlement Procedure detailed above.
Β. Imposes on “HSBC CONTINENTAL EUROPE” a reduced fine amounting to €21,375.4 for its participation in the above infringement of Articles 1 of Law 3959/2011 and 101 TFEU found according to the above grounds of the Decision.
According to the above, the reduction in the amount of the fine is granted because of the passive role of undertaking concerned in the adoption of a new pricing model for cash withdrawal transactions from ATMs within the DIASATM network, on the limited presence of the undertaking in the Greek Territory, operating through of the branch of HSBC Continental Europe, Greece, with a limited physical branch network and ATMs as well as because of the reduction of the final amount of the fine by 15% due to the facilitation of procedural efficiency through the undertaking’s participation in the Settlement Procedure.
