Australian Competition Watchdog Calls for Merger Law Reform

The head of Australia’s competition watchdog said on Tuesday a tribunal overturning its decision to block ANZ Group’s A$4.9 billion ($3.2 billion) proposed buyout of Suncorp’s banking business showed the need for merger law reform in Australia.

Tribunal Decision Signals Urgent Need for Merger Law Reform:

On Tuesday, the Australian Competition Tribunal said ANZ, Australia’s fourth-largest bank by market capitalization, could buy Suncorp’s banking business despite the regulator blocking the deal in the middle of last year.

“It provides a basis for support for the merger reforms that we have proposed,” Australian Competition and Consumer Chairperson Gina Cass-Gottlieb told Reuters in an interview by telephone.

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Critical Markets Demand Fit-for-Purpose Merger Review Laws:

“Where there are concentrated markets and critical household- and business-facing markets, such as banking services, that are conducive to co-ordinated behaviors, we need to have fit-for-purpose merger review laws so we can make sure we don’t lose a competition or … can promote more competition.”

The ACCC has 28 days from Tuesday to lodge a judicial review, but Cass-Gottlieb said it was “too early to tell” if that would occur.