Last week AG Tanchev delivered his Opinion in case C-208/18 Jana Petruchová v FIBO Group Holdings Limited involving a very interesting question on the notion of consumer in complex financial transactions.
The facts
On 2 October 2014 the claimant, a resident of Ostrava, Czech Republic entered into a contract (a 'Framework Agreement') with the defendant, FIBO Group Holdings Ltd, a brokerage company established in Limassol, Cyprus. The purpose of the Framework Agreement was to enable the claimant to make transactions on the FOREX market by placing orders for the purchase and sale of the base currency which would be executed by the defendant. To that end, the Framework Agreement enabled the conclusion of individual contracts for difference (CfD's) between the claimant and the defendant. With the CfD’s the claimant bought and sold the base currency (in the present case USD) and made profit on the difference in the exchange rates applicable to the sale and purchase of the base currency in relation to the quote currency (here JPY).
On 3 October 2014 the claimant entered into a CfD with the defendant. At 15:30:00 she placed an order to buy a certain amount of USD. The trading system promptly informed her that the up-to-date exchange rate that she accepted and confirmed the order to buy. However, long queues of orders built up in FIBO’s trading system as a result of a jump in the rate of the USD against quote currencies. Consequently, the required amount of USD was purchased later, at 15:30:16, at a slightly less favorable exchange rate and for a higher price. At 15:48:11 on the same day, the claimant instructed the defendant to sell the purchased amount of USD making a gross profit in the equivalent of USD 4 081.33. However, had the claimant’s order to purchase the base currency been executed in a timely manner, not with a delay of 16 seconds, she would have made a profit of USD 13 009.23 that is three times higher of what she actually achieved.
On 12 October 2015 the claimant sued the defendant for unjust enrichment, lodging the claim before the Regional Court, Ostrava; contrary to the Framework Agreement that provided for the jurisdiction of Cypriot courts. The court enforced the jurisdiction clause, and rejected the applicability of Article 17(1) of Brussels Regulation that would enable the claimant as a consumer to bring her claim in a Czech court. This was because, according to the court, the claimant did not enter into the CfD at issue in order to meet her private needs, she had the knowledge and the expertise required to conclude CfD's, and she had been warned that CfD's were not an appropriate instrument for ‘retail clients’ within the meaning of Directive 2004/39. In any event, the view of the court was that Article 17(1) of the Brussels Regulation had to be interpreted in the same manner as Article 6(1) of he Rome I Regulation, and that consequently financial instruments were excluded from the scope of Brussels Regulation. The appellate court confirmed the lower court's decision, but the Czech Supreme Court disagreed, and turned to the CJEU.
The question
The Supreme Court asked the CJEU whether a natural person who engages in trade on the FOREX market must be regarded as a consumer within the meaning of Article 17(1) of the Brussels Regulation or whether, by reason of the knowledge and expertise required to engage in that trade, the complex and atypical nature of the contract at issue, and of the risks involved, that person cannot be considered a consumer.
The answer
In delivering his option, AG Tanchev first of all clarified that although Art. 17(1) the Brussels Regulation provides a special jurisdiction for consumer disputes, it does not define the notion of a consumer. The provision only provides that a person, the ‘consumer’, must conclude a contract ‘for a purpose which can be regarded as being outside his/her trade or profession’ (para. 35). Following the CJEU's settled case law, AG Tanchev explained that Article 17(1) of Brussels Regulation should be interpreted independently by reference principally to the general scheme and objectives of that Regulation, rather than by reference to other, related EU legislation (para. 36, see also parts E and D of the Opinion). Finally, AG Tanchev highlighted that the notion of a consumer must be strictly construed, taking into account the nature and objective of the kind of the contract rather than the subjective position of the consumer in the contract under scrutiny (para. 37).
Looking at the only requirement of Art. 17(1) of Brussels Regulation, the purpose of the contract that must be non-professional, AG Tanchev is immediately inclined to say that the claimant in question is a consumers, given that at the time of conclusion of the Framework Agreement and of the CfD at
issue, the claimant was a university student and although she was also working part time, the CfD was not concluded within her (part-time) profession. This was not disputed between the parties. However, before he would have made his final recommendation, AG Tanchev carefully scrutinized the arguments raised by the Czech courts and the elements of the question referred to for preliminary ruling.
Relevance of knowledge and expertise
AG Tanchev discarded the relevance of knowledge and expertise for defining the notion of a consumer within the meaning of Art. 17(1) of Brussels Regulation. First of all, accepting that CfD transactions require special knowledge will make these a commercial transaction, would effectively exclude these types of contracts from the scope of the Regulation, and this would be contrary to the intention of the Regulation that does not provide for the exemption of any financial contracts/instruments. Secondly, it is also irrelevant that the claimant had some previous experience with CfD's as the Regulation does not require evidence of no prior knowledge and experience in the field. It only requires that a contract is concluded outside the person's trade or profession (paras 43-45). Finally, taking into account the claimant's level of knowledge and information would give priority to the claimant's subjective situation as opposed to the nature and objective of the contract (para 46). This approach would be contrary to the CJEU's established case-law in interpreting the notion of a consumer (referring here primarily to Schrems and Costea).
Relevance of the value of transaction
AG Tanchev also rejected the argument that the high values involved in the transaction make them a commercial transaction rather than a consumer contract. According to the AG Tanchev, in the absence of any specific threshold in the Regulation, this approach would be contrary to legal certainty, making the applicability of the Regulation subject to a variable and not precisely defined factor (para. 51)
Relevance of the amounts of profit made by the transaction
AG Tanchev discredited the argument that a person should not be considered a consumer if the profit made on the FOREX market accounts for the greatest part of the person's income. According to the AG, it would be contrary to equal treatment if persons achieving the same profit would enjoy different classification (and hence protection) depending on amount of profit relative to their income (para. 52).
Relevance of the consumers involvement
AG Tanchev also discredited the argument that the claimant should not be considered a consumer because she actively placed orders on the Forex market. Art. 17(1) of Brussels Regulation does not require that the consumer acts in any special way, it neither requires the consumer to stay passive nor to be active (para. 53).
Relevance of the risks involved in the transaction
Finally, AG Tanchev also rejected the importance attached to the risks involved in the transaction, primarily because risks are inherent in the conclusion of CfDs. Therefore, should classification as a
consumer be denied on account of the risks taken, CfDs would systematically fall outside the scope of Article 17(1) of the Brussels Regulation, and this would be contrary to the express provisions of the Regulation that only exempts certain type of transport contracts from its scope (para. 56). On the contrary, the high risks involved in the transaction justify the protection of Brussels Regulation to persons dealing with CfDs (para 57).
consumer be denied on account of the risks taken, CfDs would systematically fall outside the scope of Article 17(1) of the Brussels Regulation, and this would be contrary to the express provisions of the Regulation that only exempts certain type of transport contracts from its scope (para. 56). On the contrary, the high risks involved in the transaction justify the protection of Brussels Regulation to persons dealing with CfDs (para 57).
Relevance of the number and frequency of transactions
Finally, the AG considered the relevance of the number and frequency of the transactions executed. Although recognizing that a person carrying out financial transactions regularly over an extended period of time and for significant amounts of money would classify those transactions as a (secondary) profession (para. 58), referring to interpretations of national courts AG Tanchev finally rejected the relevance of this criteria. Reliance on individual circumstances would lead to uncertain outcomes, and would also be inconsistent with the CJEU's approach to look at nature and objective of the contract rather than the subjective situation of a person in question (paras. 59-63).
Concluding thoughts
This is an interesting case that once again raised the problem of delimiting consumers from non-consumers, now in the context of Brussels Regulation. Taking a 'black letter' approach to interpreting Art. 17(1) of Brussels Regulation, AG Tanchev provided a protective view to the notion of the consumer. However, given his approach of looking at the Regulation isolated from other EU legal instruments, the entire system of protection that comes with the notion of a consumer in EU law might not have been triggered. In fact, taking this approach, could we end up in classifying an individual under one act as a consumer and under another EU legislation as a business, and would this be a problem? Secondly, do you agree with AG Tanchev's approach in not limiting the scope of the notion of a consumer? Should wealthy consumers likely to engage financial advisers and/or knowledgeable consumers who are able to make prudent decisions deserve the special EU consumer protection regime? More generally, we could also ask whether certain categories of consumers such as high-net-worth individuals need this protection, whether the many protective rules of EU consumer law, primary those on information provision slow down their business, especially their financial dealings? What do you think?
Finally, the AG considered the relevance of the number and frequency of the transactions executed. Although recognizing that a person carrying out financial transactions regularly over an extended period of time and for significant amounts of money would classify those transactions as a (secondary) profession (para. 58), referring to interpretations of national courts AG Tanchev finally rejected the relevance of this criteria. Reliance on individual circumstances would lead to uncertain outcomes, and would also be inconsistent with the CJEU's approach to look at nature and objective of the contract rather than the subjective situation of a person in question (paras. 59-63).
Concluding thoughts
This is an interesting case that once again raised the problem of delimiting consumers from non-consumers, now in the context of Brussels Regulation. Taking a 'black letter' approach to interpreting Art. 17(1) of Brussels Regulation, AG Tanchev provided a protective view to the notion of the consumer. However, given his approach of looking at the Regulation isolated from other EU legal instruments, the entire system of protection that comes with the notion of a consumer in EU law might not have been triggered. In fact, taking this approach, could we end up in classifying an individual under one act as a consumer and under another EU legislation as a business, and would this be a problem? Secondly, do you agree with AG Tanchev's approach in not limiting the scope of the notion of a consumer? Should wealthy consumers likely to engage financial advisers and/or knowledgeable consumers who are able to make prudent decisions deserve the special EU consumer protection regime? More generally, we could also ask whether certain categories of consumers such as high-net-worth individuals need this protection, whether the many protective rules of EU consumer law, primary those on information provision slow down their business, especially their financial dealings? What do you think?
