Clifford Chance
Financial Services Antitrust Bulletin
3 April 2025
Since Q4 2024, competition authorities across the world have continued to closely scrutinise the financial services sector. This edition of the Clifford Chance Financial Services Antitrust Bulletin charts the following key themes derived from developments in Europe, North America, the Asia Pacific region, North Africa and the Middle East:
Fees are in focus – Across several jurisdictions, regulators echoed similar concerns regarding interchange fees. The Turkish Competition Board concluded a preliminary enquiry into whether scheme services levied by Visa and Mastercard amounted to exclusionary practices and violated competition law. In the UK, a market review concluded that competition is working inefficiently in relation to card schemes and processing fees, with similar concerns echoed in Morocco. A regulatory review conducted in Australia is also expected to publish findings relating to bank surcharges and interchange fees.
Increased investigatory appetite – This period has seen investigatory action by regulatory bodies across the world. Notably, in the European Union, an abuse of dominance investigation was launched in the Netherlands into the acquisition of Ziemann by the money transport company Brink's. The UK Financial Conduct Authority wrote an open letter to Monzo Bank Limited regarding breaches of the Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017. In Indonesia, the antitrust regulator released an official statement calling for stricter regulation on trading halts in the capital market due to unfair business competition practices.
Insurance markets inquiries – The UK Financial Conduct Authority has launched a study into the pure protection market to assess how well products meet consumer needs. Characteristics of this market, such as the commission-driven sales structure, have sparked regulators' interest. Meanwhile, the French Autorité de la Concurrence has issued recommendations which are intended to boost competition in the property damage insurance sector for local authorities.
M&A developments – Regulators in America are rethinking bank merger policies, demonstrating a preference for a prior version to prioritise transparency. This period has seen significant consolidation activity across the financial services sector, with multiple acquisitions reported in France, Italy, Spain and Turkey.
