Canada's Competition Bureau has filed an official request for information (RFI) over the Royal Bank of Canada's (RBC) proposed acquisition of HSBC Bank Canada.

The C$13.5 billion takeover of HSBC's Canadian business was announced in November 2022, and would be the largest ever acquisition for RBC.

In a press release, the Bureau said that it is "investigating whether the proposed acquisition is likely to result in a substantial lessening or prevention of competition for services provided by the companies, including personal and business financial services across Canada."
It is seeking information on factors such as the rivalry among RBC and HSBC and with other companies, differences in price, quality, or choice for consumers, and the prevalence and impact of bundling more than one product or service with a single service provider among others.

The Bureau has set a deadline for all those with relevant information to share this information with the Bureau by June 1.

The transaction is also subject to an application process administered by the Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions (OSFI), the Bureau said.

When the deal was initially announced last year, the Department of Finance Canada said: “The Minister of Finance may take into account such factors as the rights and interests of consumers and business customers; the impact of the transaction on the level of competition in the sector; its consequences for the stability and integrity of the financial sector and public confidence in it."

The last major deal of this scale from RBC was thwarted by regulators in the 1990s, when it attempted to buy rival Bank of Montreal.

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