SOCIETÀ PER I SERVIZI BANCARI – SSB/SOCIETÀ INTERBANCARIA PER L’AUTOMAZIONE – CEDBORSA
PRESS RELEASE
PRESS RELEASE
BANKING SYSTEM: ANTITRUST AUTHORITY GIVES CONDITIONAL AUTHORIZATION FOR SIA-SIAB MERGER
Payments system network must be truly accessible to competitors
The Antitrust Authority has given a conditional go-ahead to the takeover of SIA (Società Interbancaria per l’Automazione–Cedborsa) by SSB (Società per i Servizi Bancari). The Italian Competition Authority, at its meeting on 4 April 2007, made the merger conditional on compliance with a series of measures suggested by the parties themselves whose aim is to eliminate the operation's possible anti-competitive effects in domestic retail clearing services and domestic debit card processing (Bancomat and Pagobancomat).
This merger will result in the creation of an entity, controlled by five major national banks, which will be completely integrated into the provision of services to the banking and finance world. For that reason, the post-merger company must:
1) create a specific division for network services separate from the other three divisions planned (Markets, Cards and Payments) with a separate accounting system. The network division must sell its network services exclusively by way of its own staff in a manner completely separate from the sales efforts of the other divisions, using distinct contracts of its own;
2) connect the applications centres also to the competing SWIFTnet network in the shortest possible time and in any case within two months from 21 March 2007, the date the Memorandum of Agreement was signed by SSB-SIA, SECETI and ICCREA, so as to guarantee functional interoperability on all the interbank links;
3) put in place a temporary arrangement whereby system traffic from customers using SWIFTnet for their remote communications is free until such time as interoperability between the applications centres is also available by way of the SWIFT network;
4) maintain the present public, transparent and non-discriminatory charging criteria for interbank data transport for users of logical network services independent of the applications centre chosen;
5) not apply discriminatory conditions for system traffic to SSB customers who choose a remote network operator other than SIA, which is recognized as the infrastructure manager based on the SITRAD Convention.
Within the next 120 days, the company must submit a report to the Authority on the implementation of the measures stipulated.
Rome, 5 April 2007