President Signs Borrowers’ Refund Settlement Law

Budapest, October 5, 2014 (MTI-ECONEWS) – President Janos Ader has signed legislation on the settlement of refunds owed retail borrowers by banks, the president’s press chief said on Sunday, responding to a query by MTI.

The law was signed by the president before the deadline, on October 4, said Anita Altorjai.

The settlement bill was approved by MPs on September 24, but the Hungarian Banking Association asked the President a few days later to send the law to the Constitutional Court for review.

The association noted that borrowers’ relief legislation — legislation that laid the foundation for the settlement law — was in the process of being reviewed by the Constitutional Court after lower court referral, and that the matter was inseparable from the law on settlement.

The borrowers’ relief legislation requires lenders to pay refunds for using exchange rate margins when calculating repayments on foreign currency-denominated loans and for making unilateral changes to both FX and forint loan contracts. The settlement law outlines how and when the compensation will be paid, although the National Bank of Hungary is in charge of the details of the process.

Source: http://mtva.hu/hu/hungary-matters