To split or not to split? – the UK competition law and regulatory response to the financial crisis

Becket McGrath, partner – EU and Competition, Edwards Angell Palmer & Dodge UK LLP. Email: bmcgrath@eapdlaw.com

The financial crisis and the resulting recession have led to increased consolidation in the banking sector across the world, as failing banks have been acquired by stronger institutions or the state itself. They have also led to increased public hostility towards the institutions and individuals who are held by many voters to be responsible for causing the crisis in the first place. As politicians struggle to manage the political and economic consequences of these developments, it is not surprising that competition law (ie, antitrust) is being considered as a means of both addressing some of the consequences of such enforced consolidation and helping to avoid some of the problems that contributed to the crisis in the first place.