The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) has opposed National Australia Bank's (NAB) proposed acquisition of Axa Asia-Pacific Holdings, making way for AMP to move on the wealth manager.
The ACCC found a merger between NAB and Axa would result in substantially lower competition in the market for retail investment platforms for investors with complex investment needs, ACCC chairman Graeme Samuel said late yesterday.
"However, the ACCC found that an independent Axa or a merger between AMP and Axa would not have this effect," Samuel said.
"The ACCC concluded that because AMP does not own its own wrap platform it is constrained in its ability to compete aggressively."
Allowing NAB and Axa to merge would significantly diminish incentives to compete for retail investment platforms used by investors that have complex financial needs, Samuel said.
"In the absence of the proposed acquisition by NAB, Axa on its own or an AMP-owned Axa would continue to drive innovation, particularly with respect to platform functionality, and deliver the benefits that flow in the form of enhanced services to financial advisers and their clients," he said.
"[The] ACCC is aware that Axa is advanced in the implementation of a strategy to develop a low cost full function retail investment platform. The ACCC considers that this evidence increases the likelihood of Axa, or a merged AMP and Axa, competing strongly in the future."
AMP chief executive Craig Dunn welcomed ACCC's decision.
"We have always believed that a combined AMP-Axa AP group would provide an even stronger, non-bank competitor in financial services that Australian consumers deserve," he said.
NAB acknowledged ACCC's decision to object to its proposal and said it would review the ACCC decision in detail before making any further comment.
