MKB Bank has lost a court appeal in which it defended its treatment of clients who took out loans in foreign currencies. The Municipal Court of Budapest threw the case out, saying that the changes made to the rates charged to bank clients had been inappropriate. Hungarian banks will have to compensate their foreign exchange loan clients under laws passed by the country’s parliament. The feud pits the government, which claims it is acting in the interest of consumers against business interests which claim the government is moving too far into the realm of regulation. The Hungarian government is now considering releasing foreign exchange reserves that could be provided to banks through loans to help them cover their losses under the compensation legislation.
