The Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe has issued a landmark ruling strengthening the legal position of tens of thousands of bank customers who entered into long-term premium savings contracts in the nineteen nineties. The Karlsruhe judges decided that credit institutions could not unilaterally adjust interest rates to the detriment of consumers when contract clauses were formulated transparently, obligating affected savings banks and commercial banks across Germany to recalculate and pay out withheld interest earnings.