The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) won't be opposing Westpac Bank's merger with St George Bank, after ruling out that their wealth management businesses would be too dominant.
The decision was made after a detailed review of the proposed acqusition with external parties, ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said in a statement yesterday.
The announcement came after ACCC first revealed on July 23 that its main concern was that the combination of Westpac-owned BT Financial Group and St George-backed Asgard Wealth Solutions would yield too much market share.
Specifically, the ACCC was worried that their wrap platforms would be a preliminary competition concern, the statement said.
"[But] further market inquires have since revealed that there are a range of substitutable products, including master trust platforms and increasingly, separately-managed accounts, available to financial planning businesses and investors," the statement said.
Some market commentators had suggested that one of the banks would have to jettison their wealth management division for the $18.1 billion merger to proceed.
