PEXA, the Commonwealth Bank-backed property settlement exchange, threatened to sue the industry regulator if it was forced to share information about its systems that would have allowed for more competition, describing requests to do so as an unlawful grab at its intellectual property.

The ASX-listed group, which has almost the entire transfer markets in most states, had been working with its rival Sympli and the major banks to make sure various platforms worked with one another – as required – by the end of next year. However, that process has come to a halt with the regulator unsure whether it has the power to force progress.