Bank Mergers Antitrust Review

Summary

This practice note discusses the industry-specific statutory framework, federal standards of review, and regulatory processes applicable to the antitrust review of mergers and acquisitions of banking organizations. The review of mergers and acquisitions involving banking organizations differ in certain respects from nonbanking transactions given the more complex regulatory framework involved. The Hart-Scott-Rodino (HSR) Act exempts from its requirements certain acquisitions and parts of acquisitions that require premerger review by a specialized regulatory agency, including banking transactions, which are subject to premerger competitive review by a banking agency.