Canadian Bank Merger Enforcement Guidelines to be Reviewed
Canada's Competition Bureau is seeking comments on its Bank Merger Enforcement Guidelines (BMEGs). The BMEGs were first published in 1998, in the course of the Bureau's review of the so-far-not-consummated bank mergers (the Minister of Finance ultimately nixed the merger of 4 of Canada's top banks into 2, even though the Bureau had conditionally approved both deals). Even as then-Finance Minister Paul Martin is set to become the next Prime Minister of Canada, speculation renews perennially that the banks will eventually consolidate. The review of the BMEGs is in response to the recommendation of a Parliamentary Committee that recently examined the prospect of bank mergers, but also coincides with a general overhaul of the Merger Enforcement Guidelines (the MEGs) by the Competition Bureau. Comments on the BMEGs have been requested by February 4, 2004. Details can be found on the Bureau's web-site: http://www.competition.ic.gc.ca/
