Dear Readers,
IN today’s article, we want to talk about a new court ruling granted in favour of one of our clients who was affected by a multi-currency loan combined with an investment product, which was sold to them as an equity release.
It was a product, marketed by the Bank of Valencia, under the name of Activa Tu Casa and was a combination of a multi-currency mortgage loan in Swiss Francs together with an investment in the same bank with the funds in Euros.
This was without doubt a high risk product, which led to many of those affected by it losing their properties or savings.
Thus, the ruling of Section 8 of the Provincial Court of Alicante, dated 7/9/2018, confirms the nullification of this high-risk product that was sold to our client, Ms. D.G. (S).
It was annulled on the grounds that the lack of information about the risks of the product encouraged our client, a retired expatriate with no experience in complex investments products, to follow the advice of the bank which resulted in her taking up the product and almost making her lose her home.
The Provincial Court in this court precedent, declared the nullity of the signed contract, because it had its origin in a consent or agreement given by my client, which was wrong and invalid because the bank did not give sufficient and accurate information to her in order to enable her to make an informed decision about investing in the product.
In addition, the Provincial Court declared, as we requested in our claim, that;
1.In this type of mixed product, which is a mortgage loan in a foreign currency linked with investment, it should be understood that the Securities Market Law is applicable, since it is a combined mixed product, which involves financial advice.
Therefore, the information duties and obligations of the bank about the characteristics of the contract, risks, etc., are greater and stricter.
2.In addition, the Provincial Court of Alicante, reiterated, that contrary to what banks try to argue in defence, the period of four years to initiate a nullity legal action due to a wrong consent, should be counted, not from when the error or mistake is known to have occurred, but, from the date of the expiry of the contract, i.e. when the contractual relationship is finalised at the end of the term of the loan.
The Provincial Court confirmed the sentence in favour of our client that we had previously obtained in the first court and instructed the bank to pay the costs and expenses of the entire court process.
Therefore, if you are in this or a similar situation, if your bank wrongly sold you a multi-currency mortgage in Spain, or an investment product, or an equity release, without informing you about the risks, contact us and we will help you.
The information provided in this article is not intended to be legal advice, but merely conveys general information related to legal issues.
Carlos Baos (Lawyer)
White & Baos
Tel:+34 966 426 185
E-mail: info@white-baos.com
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