Case C-81/24, Jenec: Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 11 June 2026 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Okrajno sodišče v Mariboru – Slovenia) – LH v OTP banka d.d., formerly NOVA KREDITNA BANKA MARIBOR (Reference for a preliminary ruling – Approximation of laws – Financial services – Access to a payment account with basic features – Directive 2014/92/EU – Article 16(4) – Prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering and terrorist financing – Directive (EU) 2015/849 – Consumer included on the list of the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control – Refusal to open such a payment account)
Date: 2026-06-11
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: account, consumer protection, credit institution, financial legislation, international sanctions, law of banking, money laundering, presumption of innocence, rights of the defence, terrorism financing








C_202603966EN.000101.fmx.xml












Official Journal of the European Union


EN
C series













C/2026/3966


3.8.2026






Judgment of the Court (Fourth Chamber) of 11 June 2026 (request for a preliminary ruling from the Okrajno sodišče v Mariboru – Slovenia) – LH v OTP banka d.d., formerly NOVA KREDITNA BANKA MARIBOR


(Case C-81/24,
                (1)
Jenec
                (2)
)

(Reference for a preliminary ruling - Approximation of laws - Financial services - Access to a payment account with basic features - Directive 2014/92/EU - Article 16(4) - Prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering and terrorist financing - Directive (EU) 2015/849 - Consumer included on the list of the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control - Refusal to open such a payment account)
(C/2026/3966)
Language of the case: Slovenian

Referring court

Okrajno sodišče v Mariboru

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicant: LH

Defendant: OTP banka d.d., formerly NOVA KREDITNA BANKA MARIBOR

Operative part of the judgment

Article 16(4) of Directive 2014/92/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council of 23 July 2014 on the comparability of fees related to payment accounts, payment account switching and access to payment accounts with basic features, read in conjunction with Directive (EU) 2015/849 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 20 May 2015 on the prevention of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering or terrorist financing, amending Regulation (EU) No 648/2012 of the European Parliament and of the Council, and repealing Directive 2005/60/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council and Commission Directive 2006/70/EC, as amended by Directive (EU) 2018/843 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 30 May 2018,
must be interpreted as not permitting Member States to require credit institutions to refuse to open a payment account with basic features for a consumer for the sole reason that that consumer is included on a list of persons subject to restrictive measures imposed by a third country, unless the credit institution concerned has carried out an individual assessment of the risk of money laundering or terrorist financing connected with the intended business relationship.


(1)  OJ C, C/2024/3581.

(2)  The name of the present case is a fictitious name. It does not correspond to the real name of any party to the proceedings.


ELI: http://data.europa.eu/eli/C/2026/3966/oj
ISSN 1977-091X (electronic edition)