The Australia Competition and Consumer Commission's review of a proposed joint venture to establish a new credit bureau, Experian Australia Credit Services, has become a drawn-out affair, with the competition watchdog going back to the joint venture partners four times since May for more information.With the review about to enter its fourth month, talk in the industry is that strong opposition to the joint venture has heightened the ACCC's level of concern about the deal.Experian Australia and New Zealand, which has operated decision analytics and marketing services in Australasia since 1998, announced in May that it had joined forces with six financial institutions to establish a consumer and business credit information service for Australian credit providers.Experian proposes that it own 76 per cent of the new business, while ANZ, Citibank, Commonwealth Bank, GE Capital, National Australia Bank and Westpac would each own four per cent.The involvement of a group of financial institutions in a credit bureau operation has raised questions about preferred treatment of shareholders, exclusive dealings and conflict of interest.The ACCC issued a notice to interested parties in May asking them to comment on the extent to which their businesses rely on the investors as sources of credit data. It also asked for their views on the current level and nature of competition in the credit reporting market. It wanted to know the extent to which the proposed joint venture would lead to "significant foreclosure" of rival credit reporting agencies' access to credit data and access to customers. Veda Advantage and Dun & Bradstreet are the established credit bureau businesses in Australia.The ACCC faces a difficult task because it is trying to assess the likely impact of a joint venture on a market that is about to change dramatically. The Government has said it will shift the basis of credit reporting from the current 'negative' regime to 'positive' (or comprehensive) reporting.Under the negative reporting system, credit bureaus gather default listings, court orders and other evidence of borrowers getting into trouble.Positive reporting involves credit providers supplying bureaus with a lot more information about how customers are managing their credit.This change will see credit providers having more discretion about the amount of information they provide and who they give it to. Experian Australia and New Zealand's managing director, Kim Jenkins, told Banking Day in May that her expectation was that the joint venture partners would also provide data to the rest of the market.Jenkins said: "And we will take data from the full spectrum. That is the only way you can have a comprehensive view of credit risk. "Our partners are in this joint venture to support competition. There will be very strong Chinese walls. None of those institutions will be involved in the running of the business. "There will be no preferential treatment on pricing, early product take-up or access to data. They will get the same treatment as any other client.