The regulator has already warned it would take a “very, very close look” at the $1.2bn deal
The fate of National Australia Bank’s prospective acquisition of Citi’s Australian retail business could be determined by the end of the year, with the competition regulator aiming to rule on the $1.2 billion deal in November.
The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission has started calling for industry submissions on the transaction as it seeks information on whether the deal will lessen competition in the market, The Australian reported.
The deal would include Citigroup’s $4.1 billion residential mortgage book, unsecured lending, retail deposits and private wealth management business. NAB is already risking the regulator’s ire with the deal, as ACCC boss Rod Sims warned earlier this year that the big four shouldn’t pursue acquisitions that would further strengthen their dominance in the sector, The Australian reported. Sims warned last month that the regulator would be taking “a very, very close look” at the NAB-Citi deal.
When NAB and Citi announced earlier this month that they intended to put the deal through, Sims reiterated the regulator’s concerns.
Read more: Watchdog to take ‘a very, very close look’ at any NAB-Citi deal
“We are extremely concerned about protecting competition in the banking sector, and we will look at this very closely,” he said. “Players outside the big four banks provide good competition and that is going to be lost with this transition. The big four don’t provide that competition between themselves – they more accommodate each other rather than compete with each other. So when you’ve got a big player like this being taken out, it concerns us very much.”
A letter sent by the ACCC to industry participants Monday said that the regulator would make its findings public Nov. 18. That could be a final decision or merely a statement of issues, The Australian reported. Submissions from industry stakeholders on the deal are due by Sept. 13.
