INTERVIEW: Australia's ACCC Chairman: Banks' Dominance Not A Factor In NAB Decision

Australian Competition and Consumer Commission Chairman Graeme Samuel Monday indicated that the competition watchdog hasn't shut the door on further consolidation in Australia's financial services sector involving any of the nation's big four banks, and stressed that the regulator makes its decision in accordance with competition laws.

"The...populist notion that we are concerned about the big banks and we would oppose any transaction involving the big banks is not something...that we take into account and is not part of our consideration," Samuel told Dow Jones Newswires in an interview after the regulator said it would oppose National Australia Bank Ltd.'s (NAB) bid for AXA Asia Pacific Ltd. (AXA.AU) but said it would allow any offer from AMP Ltd. (AMP.AU) to go ahead.

"I am sure there's a few analysts out there that would like to read more into this," he said. But "this is a decision made on the basis of the application of Section 50 of the Trades Practices Act."

"We must be able to demonstrate in order to oppose a merger that there is a substantial lessening of competition in a market," he said.

There had been market speculation that the regulator would not look favorably on further consolidation in Australia's financial services and banking sectors after a rash of deals by the big four banks in the wake of the global financial crisis.

Samuel said it was possible for National Australia Bank to seek further talks with the regulator on the decision, but he would not comment on the nature of the possible discussions.

"The way we conduct our process, it is always open for parties to come back to us and to talk," Samuel told Dow Jones Newswires.

"But given that they know, specifically now, the issues that are of concern to us--which are no surprise as they were also part of the statement of issues that we issued back in February--I would leave it to others to speculate on what those discussions might be in the event they were to transpire," he said.

Earlier Monday, AXA Asia Pacific said that NAB could enter further discussions with the regulator, and if the bank is unable to reach a satisfactory conclusion with the ACCC within six weeks, takeover agreements can be terminated.

A National Australia Bank spokeswoman declined further comment, other than to confirm the timeline outlined by AXA Asia Pacific.

-By Lyndal McFarland, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-3-9292-2093; [e-mail]