Recently the European Commission, for
the first time, launched a formal investigation into the banking sector’s core
lending and deposit-taking businesses. The Commission is investigating an alleged cartel
amongst eight Austrian banks who, between 1994 and 1998, are accused of setting common
interest rates, commission charges and banking fees. This investigation could be the first
of many to come in the banking sector, not only at a European level. In the UK, years of
what many considered ineffective and toothless competition law has now, finally, been
swept away, leading to a tougher regulatory environment. In November 1998 the new UK
Competition Act received its royal assent. Under the new Act the legality of an agreement
and/or conduct will be judged according to its effects, or intended effects, on
competition. Fail to get it right and, for the first time under UK law, companies run the
risk of investigation and, ultimately,
