INTERVIEW: Australia's ACCC Chairman: Banks' Dominance Not A Factor In NAB Decision
April 19 2010 - 4:39AM
Dow Jones News
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chairman Graeme
Samuel Monday indicated that the competition watchdog hasn't shut
the door on further consolidation in Australia's financial services
sector involving any of the nation's big four banks, and stressed
that the regulator makes its decision in accordance with
competition laws.
"The...populist notion that we are concerned about the big banks
and we would oppose any transaction involving the big banks is not
something...that we take into account and is not part of our
consideration," Samuel told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview
after the regulator said it would oppose National Australia Bank
Ltd.'s (NAB) bid for AXA Asia Pacific Ltd. (AXA.AU) but said it
would allow any offer from AMP Ltd. (AMP.AU) to go ahead.
"I am sure there's a few analysts out there that would like to
read more into this," he said. But "this is a decision made on the
basis of the application of Section 50 of the Trades Practices
Act."
"We must be able to demonstrate in order to oppose a merger that
there is a substantial lessening of competition in a market," he
said.
There had been market speculation that the regulator would not
look favorably on further consolidation in Australia's financial
services and banking sectors after a rash of deals by the big four
banks in the wake of the global financial crisis.
Samuel said it was possible for National Australia Bank to seek
further talks with the regulator on the decision, but he would not
comment on the nature of the possible discussions.
"The way we conduct our process, it is always open for parties
to come back to us and to talk," Samuel told Dow Jones
Newswires.
"But given that they know, specifically now, the issues that are
of concern to us--which are no surprise as they were also part of
the statement of issues that we issued back in February--I would
leave it to others to speculate on what those discussions might be
in the event they were to transpire," he said.
Earlier Monday, AXA Asia Pacific said that NAB could enter
further discussions with the regulator, and if the bank is unable
to reach a satisfactory conclusion with the ACCC within six weeks,
takeover agreements can be terminated.
A National Australia Bank spokeswoman declined further comment,
other than to confirm the timeline outlined by AXA Asia
Pacific.
-By Lyndal McFarland, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2093;
lyndal.mcfarland@dowjones.com
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