After the penalties in the ROBOR file, the banks risk new sanctions. The Competition Council is investigating the FICO score.

The Competition Council is investigating banks regarding the exchange of information used to determine FICO scores and assess credit applicants, separate from a concluded investigation concerning ROBOR. The authority suspects a breach of competition law and estimates the investigation will conclude within a few months, likely by 2027. This investigation focuses on how financial institutions exchange data to determine creditworthiness.
The inquiry targets possible agreements that might restrict consumer access to credit. The FICO score is an indicator used to assess default risk and influences loan decisions. In September 2023, the Council initiated the investigation by inspecting twelve entities, including ten credit institutions, the Credit Bureau, and the Romanian Association of Banks.
The targeted banks included Alpha Bank Romania, CEC Bank, Garanti Bank, Raiffeisen Bank Romania, ING Bank, Banca Transilvania, Banca Comercială Română, BRD – Groupe Société Générale, Credit Europe Bank Romania, and First Bank. The final imposition of fines depends on the investigation's conclusions and the Plenary's decision.

* The Competition Council is investigating banks regarding the exchange of information used to determine FICO scores and assess credit applicants.
* The investigation is separate from a concluded investigation concerning ROBOR.
* The investigation is expected to conclude within a few months, most likely in 2027.
* The authority suspects a violation of competition legislation.
* The investigation targets possible agreements limiting consumers' access to credit.
* The FICO score assesses the risk of default based on credit history and influences loan decisions.
* In September 2023, the Council conducted inspections involving ten credit institutions, the Credit Bureau, and the Romanian Association of Banks.
* Targeted banks include Alpha Bank Romania, CEC Bank, Garanti Bank, Raiffeisen Bank Romania, ING Bank, Banca Transilvania, Banca Comercială Română, BRD – Groupe Société Générale, Credit Europe Bank Romania, and First Bank.
* The ROBOR case resulted in fines totaling 3.73 billion lei, equivalent to approximately 710 million euros.

The comparison between the two investigations—one concerning ROBOR coordination and one concerning FICO data exchange—suggests a systemic pattern of regulatory scrutiny directed at how financial institutions leverage shared information to influence economic outcomes for consumers. The fact that the FICO investigation is ongoing, with potential sanctions contingent on future decisions from the Competition Council Plenary or the Constitutional Court, introduces significant temporal uncertainty regarding accountability.
The existence of two separate investigations underscores a broader concern about opaque data flows in finance. While the ROBOR case addressed coordination in setting an index, the current focus addresses the mechanics of how proprietary scoring systems—like FICO—are integrated into lending practices. This suggests that regulatory focus is shifting from overt cartel behavior to the subtle, internalized mechanisms of information asymmetry embedded within financial products themselves.
The anticipated delay in final conclusions until potentially 2027 demonstrates a process where accountability unfolds slowly, relying on complex legal and administrative review rather than immediate punitive action. The pattern implies that achieving clarity on competition law violations requires dissecting complex data-sharing protocols, which often resists simple factual reporting. The implication is that cognitive sovereignty in this context demands understanding the interconnectedness of abstract scoring metrics and their concrete impact on individual economic access, rather than focusing solely on the final penalty amounts.
Bridge Questions: What are the specific mechanisms by which the exchange of FICO-related information directly limits credit access for applicants? How do the precedents set by the ROBOR sanctions inform the Council's current approach to judging internal data governance among banks? What are the long-term systemic risks if these data practices remain legally ambiguous until final adjudication?