European Commission approves BST's purchase of Banif

The European Commission has approved Banco Santander Totta's (BST) purchase of Banif after confirming that the transaction will not raise any anti-trust problems. The €150m acquisition will create Santander Totta as the second largest private Portuguese bank. The Banif assets that were not bought by BST, many of which were toxic, have been transferred to Oitante.

The European Commission has approved Banco Santander Totta’s purchase of Banif.

By TPN/Lusa, in Business · 10 Jul 2016, 08:24 · 0 Comments

A communiqué said that “the Commission has concluded that the transaction does not raise any anti-trust problems since the Banif and Banco Santander Totta [BST] activity overlays are limited to Portugal”.



“Both Banif and BST have retail banking, corporate banking and credit card payment service activities in Portugal”, Brussels said, stressing that Banif has “a strong presence in Madeira and the Azores”, but BST is not a close competitor in these areas.



Santander Totta told the market regulator on 21 December 2015, that it would become the second largest private Portuguese bank after buying part of Banif for €150 million, adding that any litigation would remain in the Portuguese institution.



On 20 December, Sunday at midnight, the Bank of Portugal and the government announced the resolution of Banif, the sale of some assets to Santander Totta and the transfer of the others (many of them toxic) to a vehicle called Oitante.



