The EU Court of Justice sides in favor of the Slovakian Competition Authority and rules that an agreement intended to exclude a competitor is contrary to the competition rules even if the competitor is operating unlawfully on the market (Ceskoslovenska obchodna banka / Slovenska sporitelna / VUB)

Factual background On 9 June 2009, the Antimonopoly Office of the Slovak Republic (the "AMO"), a first-level authority, found that three major banks – Slovenská sporiteľna, a.s. (the "SLSP"), Československá obchodná banka a.s. (the "CSOB") and Všeobecná úverová banka a.s. (the "VUB")(jointly refered to as the "Banks") – had infringed Article 101 TFEU and Section 4(1), 4(2)(a) and 4(3)(c) of (Slovak) Act No. 136/2001 Coll., on protection of the competition, as amended (the "Competition Act"), by entering into an agreement to terminate the existing and not to conclude new contracts on bank accounts with Akcenta CZ, a.s. (the "Akcenta"). The AMO ruled that such agreement on the relevant market for cashless foreign-exchange transactions constituted an agreement restricting competition and