Polish regulator charges four banks for mishandling unauthorised transactions

WARSAW (Reuters) -Poland's consumer watchdog UOKiK has charged four banks, Bank Pocztowy, ING Bank Slaski, Nest Bank and Santander Consumer Bank, with failing to deal appropriately with clients who report unauthorised transactions.

According to UOKiK, money that disappeared from customers' accounts was not returned within the statutory time period and they received misleading responses to complaints.

If found guilty, the banks could face fines of up to 10% of annual revenue.

"Unfortunately ... banks very often fail to meet the statutory obligation to return funds lost as a result of unauthorised transactions, and in addition they mislead consumers," UOKiK head Tomasz Chrostny said in a statement.

A spokesperson for Santander Consumer Bank said it was analysing UOKiK's decision and would determine its position and what further action to take based on this.

ING Bank Slaski declined to comment.

Bank Pocztowy and Nest Bank did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

(Reporting by Alan Charlish Editing by Jason Neely and Mark Potter)