Labor gives the ACCC the merger revolution it wanted
The only real bright spot for business is that the government has rejected the regulator’s initial call for the test for approval to reverse the onus of proof.
In announcing his merger changes, Treasurer Jim Chalmers pointed to the package as a balanced set of reforms that is intended to result in a “faster, stronger and simpler” clearance process. It’s too early to be certain, but that may well overstate what will be delivered.
Australian Competition and Consumer Commission chairwoman Gina Cass-Gottlieb should be pleased with the reform package, which gives the ACCC the essential features of the regime it is seeking: a mandatory process with more administrative discretion, a shift in focus from hard evidence to economic theory, limited transparency and constrained rights of review, alongside the promise of filing fees, allowing the ACCC to recover $50,000 to $100,000 per filing.
Loading...
Jeremy Jose is a partner in the Competition, Consumer + Market Regulation team at Gilbert + Tobin and worked at the ACCC from 2007-16, 6 years of which were in the Merger Investigation team.
