The Application of European Competition Law in the Financial Services Sector

Posted by D. Daniel Sokol

Thomas Franchoo and Marcus Pollard (both Linklaters) describe The Application of European Competition Law in the Financial Services Sector.

ABSTRACT: State aid control remains at the forefront of the European Commission's activity in the financial services sector, with a focus gradually shifting to monitoring the implementation of past decisions and the analysis of requested amendments. The Commission shows a growing impatience in respect of antitrust enforcement, pursuing commitment decisions under Article 102 TFEU and the opening of Article 101 TFEU investigations on inter-banking lending rates and e-payments standardisation. As regards merger control, the scene was dominated by the prohibition of the Deutsche Börse/NYSE merger after significant battles on the definition of the relevant market for financial derivatives.