5 See U.S. Department of Justice, Bank Merger Competitive Review—Introduction and Overview (1995), https://www.justice.gov/atr/bank-merger-competitive-review-introduction-and-overview-1995. 3  -610,000, while a perfectly competitive market would be close to zero. Under these screens, any merger that does not result in the HHI exceeding 1,800, post-merger, or increases the market HHI by less than 200, would likely not require further review.
Of note, some argue that these guidelines are uniquely strict because the 1,800 HHI level for banking is lower than the 2,500 level set in the Horizontal Merger Guidelines used to evaluate transactions in other industries.