The Office for the Protection of Competition (ÚOHS) has authorized Raiffeisenbank to take over the part of ING Bank that deals with personal banking in the Czech Republic. The office informed about it today in a press release.
“The Office stated that the merger will not result in a significant distortion of competition. The decision has already entered into force. The proposed merger of competitors takes place in the area of keeping savings accounts for individuals and in the area of mutual fund distribution,” the antitrust authority said.
The Dutch bank ING stated in mid-February that it would terminate its personal banking services in the Czech Republic by the end of this year and will continue to provide only corporate banking services.
She stated that the decision to discontinue personal banking services after more than 20 years of providing savings accounts and mutual funds was taken taking into account the current unfavorable economic conditions and uncertainty in the coming years.
ING now has about 375,000 personal banking clients in the Czech Republic, to whom it offers savings accounts and mutual funds. ING has entered into an agreement with Raiffeisenbank, which will give ING clients the opportunity to become its customers and transfer savings and investments at discounted rates there from March. The company did not disclose further details of the transaction.
After the approval of the Office, Raiffeisenbank will start actively addressing ING’s clients. Raiddeisenbank has had previous experience with the acquisitions from projects – eBanka, the retail part of Citibank and Zuno banka.
The decision to terminate ING Bank’s personal banking services will affect 225 job positions in the Czech Republic, which will be canceled this year. The remaining 130 colleagues from corporate banking will continue to provide services to Czech and global clients from its Prague office, ING said earlier.
Globally, ING, one of Europe’s largest financial groups, has more than 38 million personal and corporate banking clients in 40 markets. According to ING, the decision to leave the Czech personal banking market does not affect personal banking services in other markets.
Raiffeisenbank has been providing banking services in the Czech Republic since 1993. It is the fifth largest domestic bank. It has about 130 branches and client centers in the Czech Republic. The majority shareholder is the Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International. The Office is currently assessing another Raiffesenibank transaction in which it bought 100 percent of Equa bank’s shares from AnaCap Financial Partners.
Source: CTK and Raiffeisenbank
