Australians Believe Not Enough Competition In Banking

Post by Sharat on August 31, 2010 · Under Business News, Company News, Mergers & Acquistions, banking · Comment 
Australians Believe Not Enough Competition In Banking

A survey undertaken by Australian wealth manager AMP suggests that nearly 78 per cent of all Australians believe that acquisitions by banks should be restricted.

It is no coincidence that the survey results were released on the eve of the ruling by the competition regulator on National Australia Bank’s proposed acquisition of Axa Asia Pacific Holdings.

According to the AMP survey, an overwhelming majority of 71 per cent of people polled say they believe that there needs to be increased competition within the Australian financial services sector.

AMP is a rival bidder for AXA Asia Pacific Holdings, and is in a holding pattern until the ACCC rules on competition issues regarding NAB’s on September 9th.

AMP said it released the results of the survey this week, despite the survey being conducted in March because it felt the results were timely given the uncertainty surrounding the outcome of the federal election.

“We’re looking at how we can grow AMP Bank, and we’ve issued this now because it’s a tumultuous times in politics,” and AMP spokeswoman said.

The survey results also suggest that many Australians felt that the federal government is too soft on the big four banks. 68 per cent of those polled say they would like to see increased regulation of the industry, whilst half of those polled believe that M&A activity within banking has resulted in less choice for consumers.

Those kind of survey results should come as no surprise given that concentration of market share amongst the big four lenders has increased given the recent spate of mergers and acquisitions. Westpac acquired St George in 2008, whilst CBA acquired Bankwest.


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