The Application of European Competition Law in the Financial Services Sector

Thomas Franchoo, Niels Baeten and Lukas Solek, all Linklaters discuss The Application of European Competition Law in the Financial Services Sector.

ABSTRACT: An evaluation of the Commission’s State aid control demonstrates its effectiveness to stabilise the financial sector, but the imposed restructuring plans including divestitures and behavioural commitments have not been as beneficial to the competitiveness of the sector. Also antitrust enforcement in the sector has attracted much interest with the Court of Justice calling for a restrictive interpretation of the restriction ‘by object’ notion in Groupement des Cartes Bancaires, while the Commission continues to pursue infringements in relation to interest rate derivatives. As regards merger control, the Commission mainly dealt with simplified cases, while the General Court dismissed on all grounds Deutsche Borse's action for annulment against the Deutsche Borse/NYSE prohibition decision.