Norway's competition authority announced on Wednesday the start of a preliminary inquiry into the domestic banking sector aimed at evaluating competitive conditions among financial institutions.
As part of the review, the authority has requested information from banks and other market participants with detailed knowledge of the sector. Fourteen banks have been specifically asked to supply data for this early-stage assessment.
The regulator framed the inquiry around consumer outcomes, stating that a more competitive banking market could produce tangible benefits for customers - namely lower mortgage interest rates, higher rates on deposits and a reduction in fees charged for banking services.
Previous assessments conducted by the authority identified three areas of concern that informed the decision to open the inquiry. Those findings point to limited customer mobility between banks, obstacles that impede institutions attempting to enter or grow within the market, and market conditions that could make it easier for banks to coordinate interest-rate levels.
The current process is a preliminary review rather than a formal market investigation. The authority indicated that should the inquiry conclude that competition is substantially restricted, it may escalate the matter to a formal market investigation.
Context of the inquiry
The inquiry focuses on collecting information from industry participants to map how competition functions in practice and to verify whether the previously identified concerns persist. The regulator's stated consumer-oriented benchmarks - mortgage rates, deposit rates and fees - are the measures it has highlighted when describing the potential benefits of improved competition.
Next steps
The authority will analyze the information it receives from the fourteen banks and other stakeholders to determine whether to open a formal market investigation. At this stage, the review is limited to information gathering and assessment. Any advancement to a formal investigation would follow a finding that competition is significantly constrained.
The outcome of the inquiry, and any subsequent investigation, could have implications for how banks set rates and charges, but the authority has not announced any specific remedies or actions beyond the possibility of moving to a formal market investigation if warranted.