In Slovenia,
banks once routinely concluded credit contracts with a currency clause in Swiss
francs (CHF), as was either permitted or mandated by law. The current
regulation of these credits presents challenges, both in terms of retroactivity and the principle of legal certainty, because EU law only generally defined the duty of explanation. However,
the Court of Justice of the European Union has retroactively set very
precise and strict rules regarding this duty. This was one of the key findings of the conference of lawyers held in Bled at the end
of October 2023,
which is the subject of this article.
The majority of banks
in Slovenia fulfilled their explanatory duty adhering to the then-current leg-
islation. Furthermore, when considering the involvement of a notary and ex-
plicit warnings in the credit agreements, it is evident
that the majority
of CHF credit agreements in Slovenia either meet the conditions or meet the standard
that these agreements do not contain unfair terms. Consequently, practices that
were entirely normal a decade ago are now considered unfair.
Key words: currency clause, credits, information duty, Swiss francs,
CHF, EU law.