| Headline: A rude shock to domestic bliss Source: Euromoney Date: November 2001 Author: Jonathan Brown Within days of the EC unveiling proposed conditions on the merger of SEB and Swedbank, the banks called the marriage off. Had Brussels scuppered a sound deal, or were the fainthearted suitors getting cold feet anyway? The row hinges on the commission’s curious focus on the dominance the new combine would have boasted in its modest domestic market, not the European market as a whole. Critics argue this discriminates against smaller EU states and will curtail cross-border bank mergers.
But Brussels shrugged off such criticism, pointing out that the suitors failed even to wait for the final conditions to be negotiated. Could it be that the banks had repented of their marriage and were mightily relieved for an excuse to split? The case raises thorny competition policy issues. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||