The competition partner will not challenge Mizrahi Merger and Union Bank

The Competition Authority surprisingly announced this morning that it would not contest the Competition Tribunal's decision to approve the merger of the banks "after an internal hearing in the Authority"

Michal Halperin (Photo: Eyal Yitzhar)

Antitrust Commissioner, Attorney Michal Halperin (Photo: Photo: Eyal Yitzhar, Globes)

The Competition Authority announced that it would not appeal the Competition Tribunal's decision to approve Mizrahi Tefahot and Union Bank. "Today, the Commissioner informed the parties to the merger that after an internal hearing in the Authority, it was decided not to appeal the decision of the Competition Court. The Authority is in contact with the parties regarding the issues that the Tribunal has reopened in the area of ​​diamond credit and capital adequacy issues," the statement from the authority said.

The Jerusalem Court of Competition at the end of November received the appeal against the Antitrust Commissioner's decision to oppose Mizrahi Tefahot Bank's takeover of Union Bank. Judge of the Competition Tribunal in Jerusalem Oded Shaham accepted the parties' appeal and ruled that no evidentiary foundation was found for the merger to harm the competition.

In May 2018, an Acting Competition Commissioner decided to oppose the merger. Mizrahi Bank, along with other parties to the transaction, filed an appeal against the Commissioner's decision in a proceeding before Judge Shaham for over a year. In its ruling, the Tribunal accepted the claims of Mizrahi Bank, stating that the acquisition of Union Bank by Mizrahi does not raise a reasonable fear of significant harm. In competition or in public, and there was no room to oppose it, Justice Shacham wrote in a summary of the decision: Examining the transitions between the banks, which has been a key element in the merger resistance, also raises difficulties, both in terms of conceptual, application and methodological. Given the characteristics of Bank Union, in its modes of operation, the difficulties it faces, including in terms of efficiency, and the absence of any significant indication of the Bank's impact on other players in the market, there is no basis for determining that the Bank's failure is likely to significantly harm competition. "

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