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Jun 13, 2009
On April 26th 2009, the Director General of the Israel Antitrust Authority exercised her authority under § 43(a)(1) of the Restrictive Trade Practices Law (Antitrust Law), and determined that information exchanges among Israel’s five largest banks constituted a restrictive arrangement. In particular, it was established that these practices harmed competition in the market for the provision of retail banking services to households and small businesses in Israel. This short article outlines several key findings and analyses underlying the determination…. …This is the first time the Director General of the Israel Antitrust Authority has enforced an information exchange case. In her decision, DG Kan sends a clear message to both the business community and to the general public that practices whose goal is to soften, relax, or otherwise mitigate competition or act to artificially increase search or switching costs for consumers are illegal and will not be allowed to go unchecked.
