Government's purchase of all shares in Auðkenni approved with conditions

The Competition Authority has approved the state's purchase of
all of the assets of Auðkenni ehf. on the basis of the conditions in an agreement entered into by the merging parties.
with the Competition Authority. With the settlement
the merging parties undertake to comply with conditions aimed at
to work against the potential harmful effects of the merger on competition.

Identity
is a company that provides electronic identification and trust services in Iceland.
The company has, until now, been owned by the service's main users. They
The largest are the three commercial banks together with Síminn hf. Auðkenni has thus operated on the basis of exemption from the prohibition on consultations in competition law since the year
from 2006 until 2020 when changes were made to the enforcement of competition law and
A company self-assessment for collaboration was introduced. With a change in ownership
The company will no longer be owned by competitors operating in the same field.
marked.

With the consent of the merger parties to the Competition Authority
They therefore committed to take action and to comply with the following conditions
to remedy any impediments to competition that might otherwise arise from the merger:

• Conditions are set regarding the merger parties' plans for the establishment
  of the so-called advisory board. The board consists of former owners and heavy users.
  identification service. Such a platform is liable to promote discrimination
  amongst customers and create a risk of harmful information exchange or other
  collaboration between competitors. The merger parties have committed to comply with
  conditions that work against this, in addition to the fact that they remain responsible for
  to ensure that all cooperation on
  that the association's field of activity complies with the requirements of competition law.

• When
  These are markets in formation where the government has a leading role.
  It is important to ensure that state involvement does not limit further development and
  the initiatives of others who want to establish themselves in the relevant field. Among other things, of
  it is therefore a condition that the authorities regularly reassess their position and
  role in the market in light of possible changes. In this context, consideration is given to
  of that
  The Treasury will, through the merger, gain control over Auðkenni, which has in recent years
  held a dominant position in electronic identification and trust services in Iceland. In addition
  It is a matter of record that the Icelandic state is also the owner and operator.
  An Icelandic root that issues so-called root credentials, which are a prerequisite
  authentication services on the Internet. Then the state and its institutions have been on
  among the largest customers of Auðkenni.

During the proceedings, the Competition Authority published a notice on its homepage where market participants were given the opportunity to establish
provide comments on the merger. The views of companies were also sought.
who work in the trust services market and are given the opportunity to make their views known
comments.

Í Decision of the Supervisory Authority No. 5/2022 From 18 February, a more detailed discussion can be found about
handling of the case, the conditions imposed on the merger and an assessment of its competitive effects
its effects.