Joined Cases C-125/07 P, C-133/07 P, C-135/07 P and C-137/07 P: Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 24 September 2009 — Erste Group Bank AG, formerly Erste Bank der österreichischen Sparkassen AG (C-125/07 P), Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (C-133/07 P), Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG (C-135/07 P), Österreichische Volksbanken AG (C-137/07 P) v Commission of the European Communities (Appeal — Agreements, decisions and concerted practices — Fixing by Austrian banks of credit and debit interest rates — Lombard Club — Effect on trade between Member States — Calculation of fines — Takeover of undertakings — Concrete impact on the market — Implementation of the cartel)
Date: 2009-09-24
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: appeal, bank, competition law, control of restrictive practices, fine, infringement of EU law, restriction on competition, savings bank








C_2009282EN.01000301.xml










21.11.2009   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 282/3





Judgment of the Court (Second Chamber) of 24 September 2009 — Erste Group Bank AG, formerly Erste Bank der österreichischen Sparkassen AG (C-125/07 P), Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (C-133/07 P), Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG (C-135/07 P), Österreichische Volksbanken AG (C-137/07 P) v Commission of the European Communities
(Joined Cases C-125/07 P, C-133/07 P, C-135/07 P and C-137/07 P) (1)

(Appeal - Agreements, decisions and concerted practices - Fixing by Austrian banks of credit and debit interest rates - ‘Lombard Club’ - Effect on trade between Member States - Calculation of fines - Takeover of undertakings - Concrete impact on the market - Implementation of the cartel)
2009/C 282/03
Language of the case: German

Parties


Appellants: Erste Group Bank AG, formerly Erste Bank der österreichischen Sparkassen AG (C-125/07 P) (represented by: F. Montag, Rechtsanwalt), Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG (C-133/07 P) (represented by: S. Völcker and G. Terhorst, Rechtsanwälte), Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG (C-135/07 P) (represented by: C. Zschocke and J. Beninca, Rechtsanwälte), Österreichische Volksbanken AG (C-137/07 P) (represented by: A. Ablasser, R. Bierwagen and F. Neumayr, Rechtsanwälte)

Other party to the proceedings: Commission of the European Communities (represented by: A. Bouquet and R. Sauer, Agents, D. Waelbroeck, avocat, and U. Zinsmeister, Rechstanwältin)

Re:

Appeals brought against the judgment of the Court of First Instance (Second Chamber) of 14 December 2006 in Joined Cases T-259/02 to T-264/02 and T-271/02, here with regard to Case T-264/02 Erste Bank der österreichischen Sparkassen v Commission, by which the Court dismissed in part the action, primarily, for annulment of Commission Decision 2004/138/EC of 11 June 2002 relating to a proceeding under Article 81 of the EC Treaty (Case COMP/36.571/D-1: Austrian banks — ‘Lombard Club’) (OJ 2004 L 56, p. 1) and, in the alternative, for the reduction of the fines imposed on the applicants — Cartel concerning the banking products and services market — Effect on trade between Member States — Method of calculating fines

Operative part of the judgment

The Court:






1.


Dismisses the appeals;










2.


Orders Erste Group Bank AG, formerly Erste Bank der österreichischen Sparkassen AG, Raiffeisen Zentralbank Österreich AG, Bank Austria Creditanstalt AG and Österreichische Volksbanken AG to pay the costs.






(1)  OJ C 117, 26.5.2007.