ANZ invokes the risk of a 'meteor strike' to lambast ACCC's rejection of Suncorp deal
Hearings in the second biggest merger battle in town got underway today, with lawyers for ANZ making the case that the rejection of its Suncorp Bank acquisition should be overturned.
Rarely does an Australian corporate show as much legal force in a courtroom as a big four bank when it’s trying to get its way.
Anyone who can remember the competition regulator's failed banking cartel case will recall the expansive legal teams ANZ, Deutsche Bank and Citi deployed in their defence - and would recognise some familiar faces in today's high profile proceedings.
ANZ kicked off two days of opening arguments today in its bid to convince the Australian Competition Tribunal that its play for Suncorp Group's banking business won’t substantially lessen competition and that the country’s competition regulator was wrong to block the deal.
There are 13 barristers acting across the ACCC, ANZ, Suncorp and key in the counterfactual case, Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, with the rest of the legal teams filling the first few rows in Sydney's Federal Court on Monday.
