BANKING: FOUR ITALIAN BANKS GET REGULATORY CLEARANCE TO BUY FIAT'S FIDIS RETAIL.

Fidis Retail Italia, Fiat Auto's consumer credit business, is to be bought by four Italian banking groups. The Commission cleared the merger unconditionally on April 28. After a detailed analysis of the Italian motor vehicle credit market, the Commission decided that the merger does not give rise to any competition concerns, in relation to the banks co-ordinating their own competitive behaviour in the future. The four banking groups are Banca Intesa, Capitalia, IMI San Paulo and Unicredito, which work in areas including...