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Enhancing the Role of Competition in the Regulation of Banks (1998)

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Enhancing the Role of Competition in the Regulation of Banks (1998) Enhancing the Role of Competition in Regulation of Banks 1998 The OECD Competition Committee the role of competition in the regulation of banks in February 1998. This document includes an executive summary and submissions from Australia, Austria, Canada, the Czech Republic, Denmark, the European Commission, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Japan, Mexico, Norway, Poland, the Slovak Republic, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkey, the United Kingdom and the United States, as well as an aide-memoire of the discussion. The banking sector is one of the most closely regulated sectors of OECD economies. A reason advanced for this close regulation is that small depositors cannot compare risks (or have no incentive to do so, because of deposit insurance), so competition would lead banks to take excessive risks. Controls on risk taking are considered essential to ensure that competition between banks promotes efficient outcomes. Public policy concerns focus on how bank failures could affect small depositors, the payments system and the stability of the financial system as a whole. The goal of promoting or preserving competition might conflict with some actions to deal with bank failures, emergency measures or state aid for failing banks or implicit state support for large banks. In most OECD countries bank regulators and competition authorities are jointly responsible for bank mergers, so interaction and coordination between them are necessary. Because of the political and economic sensitivity of the banking sector, it is perhaps not surprising that some countries apply special competition regimes to it. OECD Council Recommendation on Merger Review (2005) Mergers in Financial Services (2000) Relationship between Regulators and Competition Authorities (1998) Failing Firm Defense (1995) Unclassified DAFFE/CLP(98)16 Organisation de Coopération et de Développement Economiques OLIS : 07-Sep-1998 Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development Dist. : 11-Sep-1998 __________________________________________________________________________________________ English text only Unclassified DAFFE/CLP(98)16 DIRECTORATE FOR FINANCIAL, FISCAL AND ENTERPRISE AFFAIRS COMMITTEE ON COMPETITION LAW AND POLICY ENHANCING THE ROLE OF COMPETITION IN THE REGULATION OF BANKS English text English only 68810 Document complet disponible sur OLIS dans son format d'origine Complete document available on OLIS in its original format DAFFE/CLP(98)16 FOREWORD This document comprises proceedings in the original languages of a Roundtable on Enhancing the Role of Competition in the Regulation of Banks which was held by the Working Party n°2 of the Committee on Competition Law and Policy in February 1998. This compilation, which is one of several published in a series named “Competition Policy Roundtables”, is issued to bring information on this topic to the attention of a wider audience. PRÉFACE Ce document rassemble la documentation dans la langue d’origine dans laquelle elle a été soumise, relative à une table ronde sur le renforcement du rôle de la concurrence dans la réglementation du secteur bancaire qui s’est tenue en février 1998 dans le cadre du Groupe de travail n° 2 du Comité du droit et de la politique de la concurrence. Cette compilation qui fait partie de la série intitulée “les tables rondes sur la politique de la concurrence” est diffusée pour porter à la connaissance d’un large public, les éléments d’information qui ont été réunis à cette occasion. Visit our Internet Site -- Consultez notre site Internet http://www.oecd.org/daf/ccp OECD 1998 2 DAFFE/CLP(98)16 OTHER TITLES SERIES ROUNDTABLES ON COMPETITION POLICY 1. Competition Policy and Environment (Roundtable in May 1995, published in 1996) OCDE/GD(96)22 2. Failing Firm Defence (Roundtable in May 1995, published in 1996) OCDE/GD(96)23 3. Competition Policy and Film Distribution (Roundtable in November 1995, published in 1996) OCDE/GD(96)60 4. Competition Policy and Efficiency Claims in Horizontal Agreements (Roundtable in November 1995, published in 1996) OCDE/GD(96)65 5. The Essential Facilities Concept (Roundtable in February 1996, published in 1996) OCDE/GD(96)113 6. Competition in Telecommunications (Roundtable in November 1995, published in 1996) OCDE/GD(96)114 7. The Reform of International Satellite Organisations (Roundtable in November 1995, published in 1996) OCDE/GD(96)123 8. Abuse of Dominance and Monopolisation (Roundtable in February 1996, published in 1996) OCDE/GD(96)131 9. Application of Competition Policy to High Tech Markets (Roundtable in April 1996, published in 1997) OCDE/GD(97)44 10. General Cartel Bans: Criteria for Exemption for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (Roundtable in April 1996, published in 1997) OCDE/GD(97)53 11. Competition Issues related to Sports (Roundtable in October 1996, published in 1997) OCDE/GD(97)128 12. Application of Competition Policy to the Electricity Sector OCDE/GD(97)132 (Roundtable in October 1996, published in 1997) 13. Judicial Enforcement of Competition Law OCDE/GD(97)200 (Roundtable in October 1996, published in 1997) 3 DAFFE/CLP(98)16 14. Resale Price Maintenance (Roundtable in February 1997, published in 1997) OCDE/GD(97)229 15. Railways: Structure, Regulation and Competition Policy (Roundtable in October 1997, published in 1998) DAFFE/CLP(98)1 16. Competition Policy and International Airport Services (Roundtable in June 1997, published in 1998) DAFFE/CLP(98)3 Available on our Web Site -- Disponible sur notre site Internet http://www.oecd.org/daf/ccp 4 DAFFE/CLP(98)16 TABLE OF CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.......................................................................................................................... 7 SYNTHESE................................................................................................................................................ 15 NATIONAL CONTRIBUTIONS (*) Australia...................................................................................................................................... 23 Austria......................................................................................................................................... 35 Canada......................................................................................................................................... 39 Czech Republic ........................................................................................................................... 65 Finland ........................................................................................................................................ 79 France.......................................................................................................................................... 93 Germany.................................................................................................................................... 105 Greece ....................................................................................................................................... 115 Hungary..................................................................................................................................... 117 Italy ........................................................................................................................................... 127 Japan.......................................................................................................................................... 139 Mexico ...................................................................................................................................... 147 Norway...................................................................................................................................... 159 Poland........................................................................................................................................ 171 Spain.......................................................................................................................................... 179 Sweden...................................................................................................................................... 187 Switzerland................................................................................................................................ 193 Turkey ....................................................................................................................................... 201 United Kingdom........................................................................................................................ 205 United States ............................................................................................................................. 245 European Commission .............................................................................................................. 265 Slovak Republic ........................................................................................................................ 275 QUESTIONNAIRE SUBMITTED BY THE SECRETARIAT............................................................... 285 AIDE-MEMOIRE OF THE DISCUSSION............................................................................................. 289 AIDE-MEMOIRE DE LA DISCUSSION ............................................................................................... 313 David A. Balto, US Federal Trade Commission: -- Access Demands and Network Joint Ventures ..............................................................
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