UK: UK Competition And Markets Authority Publishes Order To Implement Retail Banking Market Investigation Remedies

On February 2, 2017, the UK Competition and Markets Authority published The Retail Banking Market Investigation Order 2017. The Order follows the CMA's final Report, published on August 9, 2016, on its market investigation into the supply of retail banking services to personal current account customers and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the UK. The Report outlined the CMA's findings and a proposed package of remedies. The Order formally implements certain of those remedies and sets out a timetable for doing so. In addition to the Order, the package of remedies will be implemented by undertakings entered into by Bacs Payment Schemes Limited and recommendations to HM Treasury, the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Financial Conduct Authority.

The Order was made in accordance with the Enterprise Act 2002 which requires the CMA to remedy, mitigate or prevent the adverse effects on competition that were outlined in its report following a market investigation. The CMA can enforce the Order by civil proceedings for an injunction or any other appropriate relief or remedy. The timetable outlines the stages for introducing the CMA's key advances such as open banking, the monthly maximum unarranged overdraft charge, standardized business account opening procedures and the requirement that banks must publish service quality statistics.

The CMA consulted on a draft order and draft explanatory note for the implementation of the remedies on November 23, 2016. The CMA published a summary of responses to the consultation on February 2, 2017.

The Order is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5893063bed915d06e1000000/retail-banking-market-investigation-order-2017.pdf ; The explanatory note is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/5893064ced915d06e1000002/retail-banking-order-explanatory-note.pdf ; The timetable is available at: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/544944/banking-remedy-map.pdf ; The summary of responses is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/58930677e5274a0ac1000002/retail-banking-summary-of-responses.pdf; 

Summary of the final report is available at: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/57a8c0fb40f0b608a7000002/summary-of-final-report-retail-banking-investigation.pdf . 

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