Analysis: Regulator's 'hands were tied' in carve up of Ulster Bank and KBC loan books

Permanent TSB has been given approval to acquire a chunk of the mortgage loan book and 25 branches from Ulster Bank. Picture:Leah Farrell/RollingNews.ie

The competition watchdog has approved the €7.6bn plan by Permanent TSB to acquire a huge chunk of the mortgage loan book and 25 branches from Ulster Bank, the last of a trio of banking deals that will change the landscape of Irish banking forever. 

Friday's decision by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, or CCPC, all but completes the regulatory hurdles for the dominant players AIB, Bank of Ireland, and Permanent TSB to carve out the loan books from their major rivals, Ulster Bank and KBC Bank, which are closing their doors in the Republic.