On Tuesday 4 April, the European Commission announced that it had opened an in-depth investigation into the alternative solution put forward by the British authorities to replace the failed sale by Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) of its Williams & Glyn arm.
The aim is to remedy competition problems in the concentrated sector of banking services for SMEs, in which RBS holds a leading position. So far, RBS's efforts to sell Williams & Glyn have failed (see EUROPE 11729). Since the last trade sale...