EU plans to ease banking mergers

The European Commission has unveiled plans aimed at facilitating cross-border mergers between banks, September 2006.

The European Commission has put forward a proposal that will tighten the procedures that Member States' supervisory authorities have to follow when assessing proposed mergers and acquisitions (M&A) in the banking, insurance and securities sectors. Current EU rules allow supervisory authorities to block proposed M&A if they consider that the 'sound and prudent management' of the target company could be put at risk. The proposed new Directive, which amends various existing Directives in these sectors, will in particular clarify the criteria against which supervisors should assess possible M&A operations. This will improve clarity and transparency in supervisory assessment and help to ensure a consistent handling of M&A requests across the EU.

European Commission: Press Release: IP/06/1174: Financial sector: Commission acts to improve supervisory approval process for mergers and acquisitions http://europa.eu/rapid/pressReleasesAction.do?reference=IP/06/1174&format=HTML&aged=0&language=EN&guiLanguage=en

European Commission: DG Internal Market and Services: Financial Services: Cross-sector issues http://ec.europa.eu/internal_market/finances/cross-sector/index_en.htm

---