Loans in CHF: exchange-rate risk and the requirement of contractual transparency – Understanding the litigation and Its implications

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Loans in CHF: exchange-rate risk and the requirement of contractual transparency – Understanding the litigation and Its implications

Introductory text:

For more than twenty-five years, thousands of cross-border borrowers have taken out home loans denominated in Swiss francs to purchase property located in France, without having been clearly informed of the exchange-rate risk inherent in such financing.

Although these loans are denominated in Swiss francs, borrowers in fact receive capital disbursed in euros at the time of the property purchase, and must then repay their debt in Swiss francs, whose value in euros fluctuates according to currency movements.

The significant and sustained depreciation of the euro against the Swiss franc since 2008 has therefore led to an increase in financing costs and in the real cost of acquiring the property, resulting in a level of indebtedness far higher than initially anticipated.

Starting in 2014, the Court of Justice of the European Union, followed by national courts, gradually clarified transparency requirements and strengthened consumer protection with respect to repayment-in-foreign-currency clauses and provisions relating to exchange-rate risk.

Judicial decisions handed down from January 2025 onwards mark a decisive turning point: they now allow borrowers, including those paid in Swiss francs, to seek the annulment of their loan and the restitution of the amounts paid.

The conference will present the legal bases for this shift, the recent case law, and its practical implications for borrowers, focusing in particular on the loan-annulment decisions issued since January 2025, on the rulings of 9 July 2025 recognizing cross-border workers' exposure to exchange-rate risk, and on the judgment of 17 September 2025 concerning the starting point of the limitation period for restitution claims.

To know more: https://www.dana-avocats.fr/en/

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