UBS gains EU antitrust approval to acquire Credit Suisse

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - UBS on Thursday won unconditional EU antitrust approval to acquire Credit Suisse as part of a government-orchestrated rescue of its Swiss rival.

The European Commission said the deal would not raise competition concerns in Europe, confirming a Reuters story earlier this month.

"The combined entity will continue facing significant competitive pressure from a wide range of competitors in all of those markets, including several major global banks as well as specialist providers and strong local players," the EU competition watchdog said in a statement.

UBS, which is twice as big as Credit Suisse by assets, agreed to buy its competitor for 3 billion Swiss francs in stock and to assume up to 5 billion francs in losses in March, in a shotgun merger engineered by Swiss authorities to avert contagion in global banking.

Both UBS and Credit Suisse are in a group of the 30 global systematically important banks watched closely by regulators, and Credit Suisse's failure would ripple throughout the entire financial system.

(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee)

By Foo Yun Chee