A long "nightmare": at the BNP Personal Finance appeal trial, borrowers described on Monday May 22 the "financial abyss" that the Helvet Immo loan they took out in 2008 or 2009 has become for them.
They signed more than a decade ago one of the approximately 4.600 contracts for this loan denominated in Swiss francs but repayable in euros, intended for tax-free rental investment, which is worth to the subsidiary of BNP Paribas, known in France under the Cetelem brand, to be tried for misleading commercial practice and concealment.
In order to acquire a "studio in Le Mans" and "build up a small estate for retirement", Didier Gras borrowed 150.000 euros as a couple in June 2008. "We were told: + it's indexed to the Swiss franc +, it's the sure value of the market, it's secure", he testifies at the helm.
However, in the wake of the financial crisis, the euro fell against the Swiss currency and the amounts to be reimbursed exploded. In 2014, this former supermarket butcher, now retired, decided to convert the loan into euros, an option provided for in the contract.
He then had 195.000 euros to pay, while he had been paying a monthly payment of around 900 euros per month since 2008. He explains that he finally paid off the loan with the money from the sale of his house. "It weighed heavily in my divorce, my family life", underlines this 68-year-old man who continues to work "in interim".
"In the garbage"
BNP Personal Finance is suspected of having concealed the exchange risk at the heart of these contracts, which it did not market directly but via intermediaries.
Sentenced at first instance in 2020 to a fine of 187.500 euros and to pay 127 million euros in damages to the borrowers, she disputes any fraudulent practice and appealed.
Retired housekeeper, Martine D., 66, who does not want her name to appear, told the Court of Appeal that she had been "solicited by telephone": a wealth advisor came to her house "7-8 times", bonds were woven between them.
"He gave us the loan in Swiss francs without explaining anything to us, when we read the contract he said to us: + don't worry, trust me, it's a safe, safe, safe loan +, and he dragged us into this money pit," she says.
Like the other civil parties, she claims that she did not at the time "not understand at all" that there was a risk linked to the parity between the two currencies.
This client of the BNP "since 1974", who borrowed 130.000 euros, still owed 152.000 euros a decade later: "for 10 years, you put 900 euros in the trash every month", she says bitterly. The value of the property acquired with the loan is now estimated at 60.000 euros.
"Trust betrayed"
Then nurse's aide, Muriel Letocart took out this loan with her husband "for his retirement, for our children, my disabled son".
"It would have been marked: + an exchange risk will be borne by the borrower if the euro were to fall +, I would have understood. I call a spade a spade. I reread the loan offer again, I don't see anything noted in this sense," she said.
Twelve years later, this retiree is still paying her monthly payments and "financially, it's getting worse and worse". There is "the car in the garage", but also "mutual funds, gas and electricity", she describes soberly in response to questions.
Gilbert Pelini explains that he wanted to invest in a "senior" residence for his old age with his wife and signed with an employee of Cetelem, a "professional relationship" in whom he had "trust".
"Trust has indeed been betrayed, and today we are, I hope, at the end of a nightmare. What happened in 12 years, we can't wait for it to end", launches t -he.
Among the consequences, this 75-year-old former insurer explains that he "was forced to continue working" until the end of 2022. His lawyer specifies: in total, the couple will pay 380.000 euros for an initial loan of 252.000 euros.
