Banks, EU – Baltic States, Financial Services, Legislation

“All the necessary documents have been submitted to the regulator and we are waiting for the answer now. The merger has to be agreed with several regulators, and the process may involve changes requiring additional time for getting all the permission. We have also submitted the documents to the European Commission for review. At this point, though, we see no obstacles to receiving the permissions,” the business paper quoted Gabrilovica as saying.

The Latvian head of Luminor also noted that the whole merger process might take roughly 2.5-3 yeas. “It will take 2.5-3 years to say that everything is more or less united, and creating all systems from scratch will take the greatest effort. This will take time, but on the other hand, it will be a good starting point for the future,” Gabrilovica said.

Asked about the new bank’s client base, Gabrilovica said that these will be local businesses and residents interested in investment. “One of our advantages will be a more effective and client-friendly decision-making process. We will be much closer to our clients and thus able to respond to their needs and take decisions faster. We may be smaller in comparison with Scandinavian and European standards, but we will be a big bank by Baltic regional standards,” Gabrilovica said.

As reported, DNB and Nordea will be merging their businesses in all three Baltic states, and the new combined bank will be called Luminor. The transaction is conditional upon regulatory approvals and conditions, and is expected to close around the end of the third quarter of this year The banks will operate independently under current management and existing brands until all necessary approvals have been received.