Belgian Competition Authority Opens Investigation Into The Agreement Between The Four Largest Belgian Banks And The Company Batopin

• Published date: 10 March 2023
• Subject Matter: ntitrust/Competition Law, Antitrust, EU Competition
• Law Firm: CMS Law-Now
• Author: Annabelle Lepiece and Nawal Bouzinab-Chuitar

The Batopin project consists in restructuring the cash distribution network of the four largest commercial banks in the country, namely Belfius, BNP Paribas Fortis, ING and KBC. They aim at developing an optimal network of ATMs in Belgium, by removing these machines from the branches and by making them neutral.

On 23 December 2022, the Investigation and Prosecution Service of the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA) confirmed that it had opened an investigation to determine whether this agreement could affect the quality of banknote distribution and deposit services or the competition between retail banking service providers under Article IV.1 of the Economic Law Code and/or Article 101 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union. For Damien Gerard, BCA's auditor general, this enquiry is one of the priorities for this new year.

Batopin aims at setting up an ATM every 5 kilometers at the most...