THE European Commission is carrying out a routine review of the agreement between the Bank of Ireland and the Royal Bank of Scotland to merge their US operations and create the third-largest retail banking group in the New England region with assets of over $14 billion (£8.75 billion) and 222 branches.
The EC said the deal could fall within the scope of EU merger regulations. Bank of Ireland will have a 23.5 per cent stake in the merged entity with an option to sell its stake to the Royal Bank of Scotland.