ACCC price fixing case against ANZ lost on appeal

The Federal Court has dismissed an appeal by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission against an earlier decision of the Court that dismissed price fixing allegations against ANZ.

The ACCC took ANZ to court in 2007, claiming that it breached the price fixing provisions of the Trade Practices Act (now the Competition and Consumer Act) when it made an agreement with a broker, Mortgage Refunds, to limit the amount of the refund it could offer customers on ANZ loans. The case dealt with events that occurred in 2004.

The ACCC said ANZ would only accredit Mortgage Refunds to sell ANZ mortgages if it agreed to limit refunds to $600. The alleged intention of this agreement was to allow ANZ branches to match the refund deal.

In 2013 the Federal Court ruled in ANZ's favour. The ACCC's case was based on a view that ANZ and Mortgage Refunds were competitors but the court rejected this argument. It said that, unlike Mortgage Refunds, ANZ did not participate in the market for the provision of loan arrangement services.

The ACCC launched its appeal in 2013. In a judgment handed down on Friday the Full Court of the Federal Court said it agreed with the ruling in the original decision that ANZ branches did not supply loan arrangement services and that ANZ did not compete with independent mortgage brokers.

It also said that the Mortgage Refunds payment could not be considered a "rebate" for the purposes of the price fixing provisions of the Act.