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Article: EU clears BNP Paribas to buy most of Fortis bank
- Article from:
- AP Worldstream
- Article date:
- December 3, 2008
- Author:
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BNP Paribas won European Union approval to buy the Belgian and Luxembourg banking arms of troubled lender Fortis on Wednesday _ but has agreed to sell off a credit card unit to eliminate antitrust problems.
EU regulators also cleared government bailouts for Fortis given by Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg in September and October.
French bank BNP Paribas became the largest holder of private savings in the 15-nation euro area when it snapped up most of Fortis at a knockdown price in October, a week after a state rescue failed to keep the bank afloat.
The European Commission said the purchase could go through as long as BNP Paribas sells off BNP Paribas Personal ...