The credit subsidiary of BNP Paribas must be tried on appeal from May 15 to June 7 in the case of its toxic Helvet Immo loans, AFP learned on Friday from civil parties and from a judicial source.
BNP Paribas Personal Finance, known in France under the Cetelem brand, is accused of having concealed the risks involved in these loans in Swiss francs but repayable in euros, marketed in 2008 and 2009, to the detriment of 4,600 borrowers.
When, after the financial crisis, the euro had stalled against the Swiss currency, these loans intended for tax-exempt rental investment had become toxic: borrowers had seen the amounts reimbursed soar.
Following a first criminal trial, the company was sentenced on February 26, 2020 for deceptive commercial practice and receiving for this offense the maximum fine of 187,500 euros and to pay approximately 127 million euros in damages.
The company immediately appealed.
My clients welcome the appeal hearing of the criminal trial in May 2023, told AFP Me Charles Constantin-Vallet, lawyer for around 1,300 civil parties out of the 2,300 constituted at trial.
They want this to put a stop to the headlong rush of BNP PPF, which refuses against the evidence to make them a serious offer for an amicable settlement of the dispute or to recognize its responsibility, he added.
Asked by AFP, the bank’s lawyer did not wish to make a statement.
After the trial, the company had requested the suspension of the provisional execution ordered by the court, a measure which imposed the immediate payment, even in the event of an appeal, of damages to the borrowers.
In September 2020, this request was rejected by the Court of Appeal.
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Another decision taken since the first trial, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) ruled in favor of the borrowers on June 10, 2021, concluding that the contracts included unfair terms.
The district court of Lagny-sur-Marne (Seine-et-Marne) and the tribunal de grande instance of Paris had asked the CJEU to rule on this subject.
In parallel with the criminal trial, the borrowers have indeed individually initiated proceedings before the civil courts throughout France in order to have their contract canceled.
After the CJEU’s decision, the Court of Cassation rendered several decisions in March and April 2022 favorable to borrowers on the civil level. Courts of appeal and tribunals now rule over the months in these thousands of cases.