EC 'to clear' bid for Abbey - papers 6 September

Banco Santander’s bid for Abbey has passed another hurdle after European Commission competition commissioner Mario Monti said the deal was a good one on political grounds, says the FT Merging a Spanish bank with a UK one goes a long way towards helping create the elusive single market in financial services, the paper quotes Monti. However, the statement comes before any official announcement from the EC of its review of the bid, and competitor HBOS is said to be “furious” at the comments, which it says are “kin to a judge commenting on a case before it has been heard in court”. The F...