EU: Banks drop e-payments standardization plans, Commission drops investigation
The European Commission has dropped a 16-month investigation into an e-payments plan initiated by several major banks after the banks abandoned the project. The European Payments Council, with banks including HSBC, BBVA and Deutsche Bank, had wanted to initiate a way to standardize the e-payments process. The Commission opened an investigation into those plans in September 2011. According to reports, the EPC dropped its plans and the Commission dropped its probe soon after. Almunia announced the end of the probe in Paris on Friday, adding that “alternative, non-bank systems could then remain in or enter the market” now that the standardization plans have been abandoned.
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