THE COMPETITION Commission is expected to post an "issues letter"today regarding Lloyds TSB's proposed takeover of Abbey National. Themove follows the public hearing hosted by Denise Kingsmill, the chairof the commission's enquiry, last month.
It is thought that the letter will detail the nature of theresponses that the commission's public hearing attracted followingits broadcast over the internet. It may also touch on possibleremedies to any competition concerns that might enable the deal to gothrough.
The commission's letter will be closely scrutinised for anyindication of Ms Kingsmill's view on the proposed merger, which AbbeyNational vigorously opposes. At the time of the public hearing MsKingsmill stressed that the commission's investigations were still atan early stage and that she had yet to complete the process of takingprivate submissions from interested parties.
Lloyds' proposed merger with Abbey was referred to the commissionin February by Stephen Byers, the Trade and Industry Secretary, onthe recommendation of the Office of Fair Trading. The OFT warned thata takeover of Abbey would remove a significant branch-basedcompetitor within the sector.
Last month's public hearing - the first concerning a contestedcommercial merger - left City analysts less confident that Lloydswould ultimately win clearance for its bid, which will see the lossof 9,000 jobs.
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