On August 16, 2012 the Russian FAS Directorate for the Samara Region terminated proceedings in respect of SOCIETE GENERALE Life Insurance LLC initiated on charges of violation of Art.11 Part 4 of the Law on Protection of Competition.

The case was initiated through a complaint filed by an individual borrower who claimed that he had been misled and forced to pay for life and health insurance when signing a loan agreement at Rusfinance Bank LLC. The antitrust authorities believed that the incident had been caused by an anti-competition agreement between SOCIETE GENERALE Life Insurance LLC and Rusfinance Bank LLC – a borrower group life and health insurance agreement.

Despite negative precedents in the bank insurance market, the Firm’s lawyers succeeded in proving that SOCIETE GENERALE Life Insurance LLC had not violated any antitrust regulations and that the borrower’s complaint was without merit.

This decision represents a hallmark in the practical application of antitrust laws to relations between banks and insurance companies. Previously antitrust authorities would regard similar conduct by business entities as unconditional violation of the Law on Protection of Competition in most cases.

On August 23, 2012 similar charges against SOCIETE GENERALE Life Insurance LLC were dropped by the Russian FAS Directorate for the Perm Territories through the help of the Firm’s lawyers.

The Client was represented by the Firm’s Senior Associate Evgeny Bolshakov, Associate Grigory Shafeev and Junior Associate Alexander Balyberdin under the supervision of Partner Ivan Smirnov.