Proposed merger "simply cannot be in the public interest," says Joseph Heal
The co-founder of Judo Bank has slammed ANZ’s proposed $4.9 billion deal for Suncorp Bank, saying the merger would diminish competition and lead to poorer consumer outcomes.
Writing in an opinion piece for The Australian, Judo Bank co-founder Joseph Healy said the merger “simply cannot be in the public interest.”
Healy said that the deal suggested that the lessons from the financial services royal commission weren’t being heeded.
“The primary cause of the significant and systemic conduct issues exposed at the royal commission … was that Australia does not have a competitive banking market,” he said. “Yet here we are, less than five years on, watching a major bank snap up one of Australia’s few independent regional banks and with three of the four new banking licences granted post-royal commission having been handed back.”
ANZ announced its bid to buy Suncorp Bank last week, according to The Australian. Both sides characterised the deal as a boost for competition.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission looks closely at any acquisition by the big four banks, especially after Commonwealth Bank snapped up Bankwest and Westpac merged with St. George Bank during the financial crisis.
However, ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott said last week that he expected the Suncorp deal to get a “fair hearing” from regulators, while ANZ chairman Paul O’Sullivan said there were competition benefits to the proposed merger.
“Combining with Suncorp gives us a chance to increase scale, and our goal is to drive strong growth in Queensland by attracting additional investment, additional lending and additional finance,” O’Sullivan said. “Overall, it will result in much stronger competition and choice for Queensland consumers.”
In an effort to mollify regulators, ANZ promised no Suncorp branch closures or net job losses in Queensland for at least three years, The Australian reported. The bank also committed to $25 billion in lending to Queensland’s energy transition and infrastructure projects for the 2032 Olympics in Brisbane.
Healy roundly rejected ANZ’s claim that the Suncorp deal would help competition.
“History suggests that the proposed ANZ takeover of Suncorp will leave a vacuum of support for local SMEs,” he said. “The ramifications for Queensland SMEs, which are barely mentioned in the debate, are catastrophic.
“Such a move is completely counterintuitive to what SMEs truly need in a post-pandemic economy, namely: experienced banking support and funding to grow their business,” he said.
The ACCC said it would start a review of the proposed deal after receiving an application for merger authorisation from ANZ.
