The Catalan Competition Authority (ACCO) has sent this Monday to the National Commission of Markets and Competition (CNMC) the report it has prepared on the public acquisition offer (OPA) of BBVA on Banco Sabadell, in which it warns about the “high risk for competition in the banking sector in Catalonia”. The document follows the line of the preliminary assessment carried out by this autonomous body last May, according to sources consulted from the Department of Economy and Finance of the Generalitat of Catalonia.
Likewise, the ACCO argues that the merger “would increase concentration in the credit market”, which “could cause the increase in the cost of debt“for both companies and families. This argument was also used by Pimec, the Catalan SME employer association, in one of the first studies carried out on the effects of the operation.
The report, of a mandatory but non-binding nature, has been prepared at the request of the organization led by Cani Fernández. This opinion is provided for in article 58 of the Law on the Defense of Competition, which regulates the second phase of the analysis of the concentration operation.
More comprehensive analysis
On November 12, the CNMC decided to take the operation to phase 2 to carry out an in-depth analysis of the takeover bid due to the “potential impact” on the maintenance of effective competition in the financial sector, especially the area of banking services and the of payments.
It noted that in the first phase it had carried out a detailed investigation into the competitive situation in the affected markets. The objective of the second phase is to deepen the study of the operation.
Last week, the CNMC rejected all requests for appearance in the open study on the BBVA takeover bid, except for that of Banco Sabadell. The allegations presented by the main Catalan employers’ association fell, Promotion of Treballby all the chambers of commerce of the community and also the request of the association of small shareholders of the Catalan bank. The refusal affected a total of 79 organizations.
The regulator considered that those involved had to demonstrate a real affectation as a consequence of the takeover bid and not merely potential.
Approved in Mexico
On the other hand, BBVA obtained the green light this Monday from the Competition Commission in Mexico (Cofece) after considering that the transaction does not generate risks for competition in the banking sector of the country where Sabadell also operates.
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