ACCC wants closer eye on anti-competitive deals
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The news: The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has urged that all potentially anti-competitive merger proposals require its clearance, in comments to the government's competition policy review.
The watchdog says Australia is an outlier among most OECD economies by not requiring businesses to tell the ACCC about merger proposals and that two of three proposals outlined by a Treasury consultation don't respond to its concerns.
The context: The government is in the early stages of the review, aimed at modernising the economy.
The government says productivity has slowed during the past decade and reduced competition has contributed.
Options put forward in the review include making it compulsory for business to alert the ACCC to proposed mergers, but the Federal Court deciding whether the merger would substantially impact competition.
The ACCC wants the decision-making power and says it can provide minimal hurdles for mergers that do not impact competition.
What they said: "The ACCC does not have the tools it needs to see and prevent all anti-competitive mergers, and it means that harmful mergers may be taking place under the radar," ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb said.
The source: ACCC media release
