Limitation claims issues in the field of Swiss franc loan agreements. Part 1

Abstract

The beginning of the 21st century was the time of banks mass-granting loans denominated in or indexed to the Swiss franc. Borrowers, assured of security and the benefits of “Swiss franc loans,” signed contracts with numerous legal defects, including prohibited contractual provisions (abusive clauses). Currently, the problems of such loan agreements as abusive conversion clauses, failure by banks to fulfil their disclosure obligations towards clients when concluding agreements, and other violations of banking and civil law regulations heavily occupy the courts of the EU Member States, including Polish courts, and the Court of Justice of the European Union. The main issue, however, is that such contracts are considered invalid in their entirety and the related necessity to settle the parties due to the more and more frequent ruling by the courts of the invalidity of this type of contract.

The main focus of the present article is discussing the limitation of claims of borrowers who, by suing banks, demand reimbursement of benefits paid by them to banks, which are, in their opinion, undue from the very moment of concluding the agreement. The jurisprudence of the Polish courts and the CJEU have been thoroughly analysed; the rulings of the latter indicate that the limitation period may begin only when the borrower becomes aware that the contract concluded by them is defective, which makes it possible to effectively bring an action.