Australia's ACCC: Maintains Opposition To NAB's Bid For AXA Asia Pacific

Australia's competition regulator continued its opposition to National Australia Bank Ltd.'s (NAB.AU) proposed A$13.3 billion bid for wealth management firm rival AXA Asia Pacific Holdings Ltd. (AXA.AU) Thursday, dealing a heavy blow to the bank's plans to become the country's largest wealth manager.

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission's Deputy Chairman Peter Kell said in a statement that undertakings proposed by the bank to sell AXA APH's new online investment platform North to IOOF Holdings Ltd. (IFL.AU) "do not provide sufficient certainty that the ACCC's competition concerns will be addressed".

"The undertakings as proposed place a heavy reliance upon IOOF having sufficient distribution capability to provide an effective competitive constraint upon existing key players in the foreseeable future," said Kell.

The regulator said the proposed undertakings also rely on third parties completing certain actions, and involve complex and long-term behavioural obligations that present risks, creating uncertainty that IOOF could become an effective competitor to the combined NAB-AXA.

-By Bill Lindsay, Dow Jones Newswires; 61-2-8272-4694; [e-mail]