Amendement of the usury rate in Monaco

The Sovereign Order n° 2.271 of 6th July 2009 relating to the determination of the usury rate was amended by Sovereign Order n° 9.169 of 31st March 2022, published on 8th April 2022 in the Journal de Monaco.

As a reminder, the application of a usurious rate is a criminal offense provided by Article 357 of the Code Pénal defined as the use of “an effective interest rate that exceeds by more than half the average rate applied under the same conditions by lenders acting in good faith for credit transactions involving the same risks as the loan in question".

The new Sovereign Order also amends the periodicity of the modification of this interest rate. The term "annually" is replaced by the terms "at least once a year", allowing the revision of average interest rates several times during the same year.

 The second article of the Ordonnance of 31 March 2022 sets the average interest rates at:

For individuals:

• Overdrafts: 14,88 %
• Personal loans: 3,32 %
• Property loans: 1,74 %

For companies and sole traders:

• Overdrafts: 8,36 %

Click here to access the Sovereign Order n° 9.169 of 31 March 2022.