MP Goran Aleksic of the opposition SNAGA party said on Friday that at least 20,000 civil suits had been brought against banks whereby clients who took Swiss franc loans seek reimbursement of overpaid amounts.

The exact number will be known in the weeks ahead, he said at a press conference.

Aleksic recalled that the Supreme Court ruled that holders of CHF loans who converted their loans into euro were entitled to sue banks and seek a refund of overpaid interest. He said the Supreme Court was expected to decide on reviews filed by banks to that ruling by the end of July.

That will be followed by a new wave of civil suits brought over the exchange rate difference, which makes up 66-75% of the total overpaid amount, Aleksic said, adding that he expected 100,000 suits against banks to be brought by June 2023, when the statute of limitations expires for the exchange rate difference.

Attorney Nenad Horvat said that if the Supreme Court ruling on reviews filed by banks was in favour of clients, the number of new suits would surge. He said parliament should adopt a law for the compensation of all damaged clients, otherwise the courts would be swamped with CHF loan cases.