The National Markets and Competition Commission (CNMC) has finally decided to authorize CaixaBank to absorb Bankia, but on condition that it limits the monopoly that it will exercise in practice in 86 areas of Spain, according to an official statement .
“86 postal codes have been identified in which the resulting entity will either remain in a monopoly situation (the new entity will be the only bank present in 21) or in a duopoly situation exposed to weak competitive pressure, within a radius of 1.5 kilometers from the branch in another 65 “, says the presiding institution Cani Fernández.
“After comparing products and conditions offered in the different market segments by both entities and their main competitors, it has been concluded that the null or reduced competitive pressure in these areas will grant the resulting entity high market power that could influence their behavior, with possible adverse effects for the consumers located in said postal codes “, affirms of the entity that will preside Josà © Ignacio Goirigolzarri.
Among the risks “has been identified a risk of financial exclusion in those places where only the parties are present, due to the possibility of closing the bank offices present in those areas after the merger “.
Another weak point in the operation is the ATMs. “It has been revealed that, for clients of third parties that had agreements with Bankia (such as ING, Banco Sabadell and entities belonging to the Euro6000 network), a possible breakdown of the agreements, as a result of the merger, It would mean for them to stop accessing the Bankia ATM network under the conditions in which they had been doing so and having to pay a higher commission. ”
According to the CNMC, the CEO of CaixaBank.Gonzalo Gortázar, it has committed to half a dozen concessions to limit the monopoly power of the new group. Among them, “do not abandon, except in exceptional cases subject to prior authorization from the CNMC, any municipality in which one of the parties (or both) is presently present and there is no competing office in order to avoid financial exclusion in said municipalities “.
In the 21 territories in which CaixaBank will remain in a monopoly situation, undertakes to keep Bankia customers the same conditions and terms that have currently subscribed to their products for three years … and in the other 65 that borders on the monopoly, they will have to offer customers similar conditions for three years to those that CaixaBank has in the showcase in the areas where it is subject to more competition.
CaixaBank also undertakes “not to charge, in any of the 86 postal codes identified as problematic, commissions to customers from Bankia, for carrying out a window operation when that operation had been free of charge in accordance with the conditions offered by BANKIA on the operation authorization date for 3 years “.
The CNMC also obliges CaixaBank to, given the risk ofbreaking the existing agreements between Bankia and ING, on the one hand, and with EURO6000 and Banco Sabadell, the clients of these entities must continue to be able to have access to ATMs for a period of 18 months and under the same economic conditions.
“The CNMC has considered these commitments adequate to solve the competition problems presented by the operation, to the extent that they neutralize or mitigate the risks identified, and will monitor compliance with them,” the statement concludes.
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