PEXA’s monopoly over online property settlements must be swiftly ended to avoid the Commonwealth Bank-backed fintech gaining too much control of important data and becoming entrenched, the NSW government’s productivity agency says.

In a detailed report to be released on Monday, the NSW Productivity Commission says the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission should take over the regulation of property settlements because the existing watchdog, an industry body known as ARNECC, has neither the funding nor the powers to do so.