The merger law debate has reached a critical stage as government considers recommendations from the Competition Taskforce, and with merger lawyers and the ACCC in stark opposition.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission
ACCC
The ACCC's review of the childcare sector could have implications for deals in the sector that have been hanging in the balance.
The ACCC's probe into supermarket pricing is the latest in the long list of reviews into the sector. And it's not clear whether any will lower grocery bills.
More and more merchants are surcharging you just to pay them. It's hitting the tips of waiters and also distorting price signals in the payment system.
Both the ACCC and ASIC are poised to seize on reforms making unfair contract terms illegal and giving regulators powers to levy multi-million dollar fines against companies writing them.
Australia has lagged behind a growing number of jurisdictions providing guidance on exemptions from competition law for environmental outcomes. That could be about to change.
If there was substantial data on market power, merger benefits or competition in the ANZ-Suncorp merger hearings it was either redacted or heard behind closed doors.
Hearings in a competition review of ANZ's play for Suncorp Bank have ended today much how they started, with debates of uncertainty and in the weeds of semantics.
In the Federal Court on Thursday the competition regulator got its chance to defend its earlier decision to block ANZ's acquisition of Suncorp Bank.
The competition regulator says a merged ANZ-Suncorp would be 3.5x the size of its nearest rival outside the Big Four — Macquarie Bank.
Can smaller banks effectively compete in the home loan market with Australia's big four? According to one of the most prominent smaller lenders, the answer is no.
Bendigo & Adelaide Bank began its campaign for a merger with Suncorp Group's banking business in earnest in Australian Competition Tribunal hearings on Friday.
The competition regulator and the powerful Pharmacy Guild were both unaware of the two group's plans to merge before the deal leaked yesterday.
Day two of the big four bank's appeal of its rejected Suncorp Bank deal was all about market definitions. And fried chicken.
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.
As the government's Competition Taskforce consults on changes to merger laws, a successful argument for legal changes seems less about economics and more about getting the paperwork done.
Bendigo & Adelaide Bank has reaffirmed its desire to buy Suncorp Group’s banking business, confirming in a submission to the Australian Competition Tribunal it should be considered a “counterfactual” alternative acquirer to ANZ.
The ACCC has warned that rapid advances in immersive tech and generative AI raise risks of anticompetitive behaviour by Big Tech.
Delta Building Automation should face a $2.5 million fine for attempting to rig a bid for a National Gallery of Australia tender, according to the ACCC.
The ACCC has pushed for merger law changes for more than two years. Fresh comments this week have led lawyers to believe the government still needs convincing.
Experts are concerned about concentration in the shadowy data broking sector. But measures to alleviate this will create enormous privacy risks and could make things worse.
Class action settlements topped $1 billion last financial year for the first time since before the pandemic. But the nature of cases is changing with the economy.
