ACCC concerned about NAB bid for AXA AP

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has indicated it has greater concerns about the National Australia Bank’s (NAB’s) acquisition of AXA Asia Pacific than it did about the bid by AMP Limited.

The ACCC’s preliminary assessment will give heart to AMP’s ambitions with respect to AXA Asia Pacific.

In a preliminary assessment issued yesterday, the ACCC said it believed the NAB acquisition would have a greater impact on competition in the platform market.

“The ACCC’s preliminary view is that the proposed acquisitions may raise competition concerns in the national market for the supply of retail investment platform services to institutions, suppliers of investment products, non-aligned dealer groups and financial adviser businesses,” it said.

“It appears to the ACCC that NAB’s proposed acquisition of AXA raises a higher level of concern than AMP’s proposed acquisition of AXA.”

The regulator said the proposed acquisitions would result in increased concentration in the national market for the supply of retail investment platforms, and added: “the ACCC notes that an acquisition of AXA by NAB will result in an increased level of concentration in respect to the wrap platform segment of the market”.

The competition regulator has called for further submissions on the NAB bid and is expected to hand down a final decision in mid-March.