The idea for this book can be traced back to the events that occurred during the weekend of 13–14 September 2008 when discussions were being held on both sides of the Atlantic to rescue troubled financial institutions. The outcome of these discussions was the emergency deal between Bank of America and Merrill Lynch, the filing for bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers and the announcement of the merger between Lloyds and HBOS.

As a result of a crisis threatening the stability of an economy, competition policy may be set aside due to special and exceptional circumstances. Therefore it is important to have a clear understanding of the rules (i.e. competition law) and the exceptions to those rules, especially in the presence of such exceptional circumstances. In addition, it is important for distressed entities and policy-makers to clearly understand the array of options that they have in advance since these can be used as part of their ‘crisis toolkit”. The aim of this book is to provide an analysis of such exceptions to competition law and policy, particularly in the context of a financial crisis.

The topics analysed herein include the failing-firm defence, efficiency defence, crisis cartels and state aids. During a crisis, concepts such as failing-firm defence and efficiency defence are essential in effective and pragmatic enforcement of merger legislation.