The proposed merger between Colina Insurance, the controversial Bahamian insurance and financial services company, and Imperial Life Financial has been red-flagged by a prominent Washington-based law firm. The deal should not be approved due to “far reaching and systemic” anti-trust and monopolistic concerns that would be raised by the merger, the study concludes.
The study said that while the absence of antitrust laws and competition laws in The Bahamas provided the Government and industry regulators with “limited precedent” to approve the aquisition, existing principles indicated the deal should not be approved.
It added: “Moreover, under the competition/market dominance standards of other countries, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada, Barbados, Jamaica, and the standards of the European Union and CARICOM, the proposed transaction most likely would be disapproved due to its significant anticompetitive impact and capital market concentration.”
The study supports widespread opposition to the merger by the local insurance industry who have banded together to oppose the deal, first announced 11 months ago.
