The Lithuanian Competition Authority rules on the issue whether credit agreements lead to concentrations (Swedbank / Alita)

During the last couple of years a new trend of cases pertaining to the Lithuanian merger control regime has emerged. Those cases concern credit agreements concluded between financial institutions (creditors) and private businesses (borrowers) and claims by the latter, their shareholders or guarantees that as a result such agreements creditors had illegally implemented concentrations within the meaning of merger control rules. Obviously, many different actions of the borrower may adversely affect their solvency which, in turn, may impair the borrower’s ability to meet their obligations under credit agreement. Therefore, and given that financial institutions are subject to strict financial prudence and risk management requirements, it is a standard practice for credit agreements to