European Commission clears RBC/Dexia merger

The European Commission has now cleared, under EU merger regulations, a newly created joint venture by Dexia-Banque Internationale Luxembourg (Dexia) and Royal Bank of Canada (RBC).
The new joint venture will be called RBC Dexia Investor Services. The new company, with approximately US$1.8 trillion in client assets under custody (representing combined parent AUC), will rank among the world’s top 10 global custodians and will offer a complete range of investor services to institutions around the world, according to a June 2005 RBC Global Services media release announcing the intended venture.
“The operation was examined under the simplified merger review procedure,” the European Commission said in a short statement.
Dexia is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Dexia group, a European banking group that, in 1996, grew out of Crdit Local de France and Crdit Communal de Belgique.
Dexia is active in retail banking, financial services and insurance. Dexia Insurance steers the development of insurance and pension activities for the Dexia group. Its Belgian subsidiary, Dexia Insurance Belgium, is a life and non-life insurance company that distributes its products among local private customers and companies.
RBC is a Canadian financial institution serving personal, business and public sector clients throughout the world. Its activities include banking, asset management and insurance.