LJUBLJANA (Slovenia), March 15 (SeeNews) – Slovenia’s highest court has suspended the application of a law allocating between creditors and borrowers the exchange risk on loans granted in Swiss francs between 2004 and 2010, Nova Ljubljanska Banka ( NLB) [LSE:NLBR] mentioned.

Implementation of the law was suspended on March 10 until the Constitutional Court’s final decision on the law’s conformity with the constitution, NLB said in a filing to the Ljubljana Stock Exchange on Monday.

A request to review the law’s compliance with the constitution was filed in February by nine banks, including NLB, who say its implementation could have negative consequences for customers, the economy and the state. A separate request for review of the constitutionality of the law has also been submitted by the Central Bank of Slovenia.

“We have repeatedly pointed out that the law is unconstitutional in several respects, because it retroactively interferes with valid contractual relations, as well as it violates the principles of legal certainty, equality, the right to private property and free economic initiative. Furthermore, the law is contrary to the EU acquis,” said NLB CEO Blaz Brodnjak.

The law obliges lenders to retroactively introduce an exchange rate cap for all Swiss franc loans granted between 2004 and 2010 and also refers to loans that have since been repaid or converted into euros.

Nova Ljubljanska Banka dd is one of the largest banks in SEE, for more reference see top 100 banks