Any purchaser is unlikely to come from within Finland itself, not least because it would cause problems with the EU competition authorities in Brussels. Although there are nearly 350 banks in the country, the locally owned OP Bank Group and Sampo Bank and the pan-Scandinavian bank Nordea hold 85% of the lending and deposit markets. These three banks also have nearly 70% of the mutual funds and, since the purchase by OKO Bank (part of the OP Group) of non-life insurer Pohjola, nearly 65% of the insurance sector.
Nor do bankers think that potential purchasers are likely to come from outside the region. They argue that it is not yet the right time for international banks to enter the Scandinavian market because the price is likely to be too high, competition is very intense and the opportunities for squeezing costs further are very low.
