Business Brief

Savings bank warning

The European Commission yesterday (28 June) urged the German government to change legislation that forbids privatised banks from using the brand name 'Sparkasse', the term for 'savings bank'. The Commission considers the law to be in violation of EC Treaty rules on freedom of establishment and freedom of capital, as it gives state-owned banks exclusive access to the goodwill value of the name.

Kroes raises fines

Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes set tougher rules on antitrust fines yesterday. Companies engaging in anti-competitive behaviour could now face fines of up to 30% of sales in the relevant market, a figure that could be multiplied by the number of years an abuse takes place. The ceiling for fines remains at 10% of companies' overall turnover.

Steel deal

Mittal Steel and Arcelor agreed to a 26.9bn euro merger that will create the world's largest steel company. Mittal Steel's final offer was 43% higher than its original offer in January. The agreement means that Arcelor will recommend the deal over a rival offer by Russian company Severstal at a key investor vote tomorrow (30 June).

Caspian pipeline

The Commission and the energy ministers of Austria, Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria and Turkey have signed an agreement to accelerate plans for the 4.6 billion euro Nabucco gas pipeline linking the Caspian region with Europe.

Spain and Portugal are next in line for regulatory scrutiny, following infringement action brought by the European Commission against Hungary and Italy yesterday (28 June) on special voting rights, or 'golden shares', in companies located in key economic sectors.