The Canadian Competition Authority seeks information to aid its investigation into a proposed bank merger (RBC / HSBC Canada)

Introduction Canada’s Competition Bureau (the ‘Bureau’), [1] which assists the Commissioner of Competition (the ‘Commissioner’) in the administration and enforcement of the Competition Act (the ‘Act’), [2] issued a request for information (‘RFI’) on 1 May 2023. This request aims to aid its investigation into the Royal Bank of Canada’s (‘RBC’) proposed acquisition of HSBC Bank Canada. [3] ‘The Bureau collects information from a wide range of sources to determine whether a merger raises serious competition concerns. Based on its analysis of the evidence collected, when the Bureau concludes that a merger will likely cause harm to competition, it may seek a remedy or it may apply to the Competition Tribunal for an order to prevent, dissolve, or alter the merger.’ [4] The Competition