On 5 April 2019, the European Commission (“Commission”) published the long-awaited report, entitled "EU loan syndication and its impact on competition in credit markets" prepared for it by Europe Economics, in conjunction with Euclid Law ("Report"). The Report follows a two-year consultation into the EU syndicated loan market considering the competition concerns at each stage of a syndicated loan from pre-mandate to secondary market trading.

The Report focuses on three main market segments, namely, Leveraged Buy Outs (“LBOs”), Project Finance (“PF”), and Infrastructure Finance (“Infra”) in a sample of six EU countries, which include France, Germany, the Netherlands, UK, Spain and Poland.  While the Report does not contain the recommendations or conclusions of the Commission itself, it should inform the Commission's policy and enforcement in this area. It also suggests a number of safeguards that banks should observe to protect competition in the loan syndication process.

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