13.5.4 Amendments

In total, seven banks committed to divest or carve out a subsidiary in order to create a new competitor. It is noteworthy that in six of these seven cases, the divestment proved to be quite difficult to achieve within the stipulated timeframe.1 With respect to these six cases, the Commission accepted amendments. In particular, the divestment deadline was extended in four cases (RBS, LBG, Parex banka and KBC), while in two cases (Bank of Ireland and ING), the divestment-commitment was changed.

In the cases of RBS, LBG, Parex banka and KBC, the Commission extended the divestment deadline.2 The case of RBS might serve as an illustration. Under the original restructuring plan, RBS had committed to divest the Rainbow Business. However, RBS was unable to complete this divestment before the deadline of 31 December 2013. The UK State therefore requested the Commission to extend the divestment deadline. The Commission noted that RBS had genuinely tried to divest the Rainbow Business within the stipulated timeframe.3 The Commission called this “a positive element in [its] assessment”.4

In the case of Bank of Ireland, the divestment-commitment was superseded by more recent events. Under the first restructuring plan, Bank of Ireland planned to divest its Irish broker mortgage business (ICS). The Commission remarked that “ICS is an attractive acquisition for a bank willing to set up a new business in Ireland, or willing to expand its existing business”.5 Under the second restructuring plan of Bank of Ireland, the commitment to divest ICS was changed dramatically: the divestment of ICS was no longer deemed appropriate.6 Bank of Ireland faced deposit outflows, which made the divestment of ICS contradictory with the goal of ensuring the long-term viability of Bank of Ireland.

ING had committed to divest WUH/Interadvies. ING had contacted many market parties, but there was no real interest in WUH/Interadvies.7 Therefore, the Netherlands proposed to amend the commitment to divest WUH/Interadvies. ING would integrate parts of WUH/Interadvies with Nationale Nederlanden Bank (NN Bank)8 and divest that integrated entity as part of ING Insurance Europe.9 In the 2012 Restructuring Decision, the Commission accepted the amendment of the divestment-commitment.10