DOJ’s Antitrust Guidelines for Bank Mergers Could See Overhaul

Justice Department guidelines for reviewing bank mergers for possible antitrust concerns could get their first tweak in more than 25 years.

The DOJ announced Tuesday that it’s seeking comment from the public, including from various banking industry stakeholders, on whether and how the guidelines need to be revised.

“Innovative emerging technologies are disrupting traditional banking models and introducing new competitive elements to the financial sector,” antitrust chief Makan Delrahim said in a statement. “As part of the division’s increased attention to modernizing our competitive analysis of financial services markets, we are examining whether the 1995 Banking Guidelines need updating to reflect our evolving economy.”

The announcement comes in the wake of a major reorganization of the DOJ’s internal processes, which include the creation of a single office within the antitrust division dedicated to reviewing financial industry deals.

Delrahim has made a point of continually reassessing the DOJ’s investigation strategies, including adopting a new approach for how the government reviews vertical mergers involving companies in different parts of a supply chain.

The current bank merger guidelines outline how the government reviews a deal’s impact on various markets within the financial sector, such as how a merger changes the market for capital loans for commercial customers.

The guidelines also establish several ways the government can determine quickly if a bank deal doesn’t impose significant antitrust concerns.

Comments on the DOJ’s bank merger guidelines are due Oct. 1.