UBS gets temporary EU green light for Credit Suisse deal, pending review

BRUSSELS (Reuters) – UBS has secured a temporary green light from EU antitrust regulators to complete its acquisition of Credit Suisse but will still have to request clearance under EU merger rules, the European Commission said on Tuesday.

UBS came to Credit Suisses rescue last month with a merger engineered and bankrolled by the Swiss authorities.

According to European Union merger rules, companies can only complete deals after securing EU antitrust approval or face fines as much as 10% of their aggregate turnover.

The EU antitrust enforcer said the Swiss banks had asked for an exemption from this standstill obligation.

“Upon request of UBS and Credit Suisse, the Commission has granted a derogation from the standstill obligation on the basis of Article 7(3) of the EU Merger Regulation,” the Commission said in an email to Reuters.

“The Commission found that the requirements for a derogation were met and therefore it approved on 4 April 2023 the derogation request subject to conditions.”

The banks have yet to formally put in a request for EU approval of their deal. Such an application would kick off a 25-working day preliminary review of the transaction.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Mark Potter)