Garanti BBVA, the high-street bank majority-owned by Spain’s BBVA, has agreed to pay a fine of 1.55 billion liras ($31.8 million) after settling an antitrust investigation into labor market practices, the lender disclosed on the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP).
The settlement came after an inquiry launched by the Competition Authority earlier this year into 26 enterprises across the banking, insurance, and technology sectors. The investigation focused on allegations of anti-competitive agreements regarding employee wages and working conditions, as well as the exchange of competitively sensitive labor market information.
The probe included major banks such as Akbank, İşbank, Yapı Kredi, DenizBank, and HSBC, as well as insurance and software firms.
Under the settlement procedure, the Competition Board agreed to terminate the investigation regarding Garanti BBVA after applying a standard fine reduction. The final penalty was set at 1,547,608,979 liras.
Garanti BBVA’s settlement marks the first major resolution in the sector-wide probe, setting a precedent as decisions regarding other investigated entities remain pending.
