At the March 14th trial session, the Administrative Council for Economic Defense (CADE) cleared the share acquisition of XP Investimentos (49.9% of voting capital and 75.9% of share capital) by Itaú. The approval was conditioned to the signing of an Agreement of Merger Control – ACC.
Although the operation generated some concerns about the possibility of closing the market and discrimination of competitors, Reporting Commissioner Paulo Burnier appointed that the ACC and the dynamics of open investment platforms market would be enough to minimize these concerns. However, Commissioner João Paulo understood that the commitments under the agreement were incapable of guaranteeing the absence of discrimination of competitors and of avoiding Itaú interfering in XP’s decisions. Commissioners João Paulo and Cristiane Alkmin had their votes defeated.
Lastly, it is important to note that this was the first operation to be judged after the cooperation agreement signed by CADE and BACEN, so both technical teams collaborated in the analysis.
