The President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) consented to Alior Bank taking over a portion of assets of BPH. During proceedings it was established that the concentration would not affect competition or the situation of consumers

Alior Bank submitted its request for consent to take over a portion of BPH assets to the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK) on 28 April. Alior Bank is a member of PZU capital group, while the other bank belongs to General Electric group.

After the transaction, BPH will continue to pursue mortgage activity and investment fund management.

The concentration will not restrict competition. The shares of the two banks in the credit and deposit markets are not so high to change the market structure to a considerable extent. The UOKiK also analysed whether the transaction could result in PZU restricting the access of banks operating on the bancassurance market, other than Alior and BPH, to its products (insurance products sold by banks). The analysis suggests there is no such risk, first of all because insurance is usually an additional product. When choosing a bank, customers focus on the basic product (credit, deposit, etc.) not on the insurance policy it comes with.

More information for the media:

UOKiK Press Office
Pl. Powstańców Warszawy 1, 00-950 Warszawa
Tel. 22 827 28 92, 55 60 111, 55 60 314
Fax 22 826 11 86
E-mail: [SCODE]Yml1cm9wcmFzb3dlQHVva2lrLmdvdi5wbA==[ECODE]

Twitter: @UOKiKgovPL