Ministry of Corporate Affairs (“MCA”) exempts mergers and acquisitions of banking companies from Section 5 and 6 of the Competition Act, 2002 for a period of 10 years

MCA, vide notification dated August 30, 2017, has, in public interest, exempted all cases of reconstitution, transfer of the whole or any part thereof and amalgamation of nationalized banks, under the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1970 and the Banking Companies (Acquisition and Transfer of Undertakings) Act, 1980, from the application of provisions of Sections 5 and 6 of the Competition Act, 2002 for a period of ten years from the date of publication of the notification in the Official Gazette. Both sections 5 and 6 of the Competition Act, 2002 establish the framework for regulation of combinations of different entities.