Suncorp Bank “at present, is not a particularly vigorous competitor, either to ANZ or any person in the relevant markets,” Suncorp’s barrister Cameron Moore told the Australian Competition Tribunal yesterday.
The Tribunal held closed door hearings for most of its third day of hearings into the ACCC’s decision to block a sale of Suncorp’s banking business to ANZ. When they re-opened, Moore stuck to the themes with which he introduced the Suncorp case on Tuesday.
“The Tribunal can be satisfied Suncorp is not going to become a strong competitor,” Moore said.
“It needs large sums of capital and that’s not going to be forthcoming.”
Moore then reflected on facets of Suncorp Bank’s agribusiness offerings, one of the key themes considered by the ACCC when it refused authorisation for ANZ’s $4.9 billion takeover offer.
“We say agribusiness is not a separate product market.
“We also say there is no separate Queensland market.
Turning to Suncorp’s business model for agribusiness banking, Moore said: “Customers might prefer a certain model but it comes with costs.
“In effect there is a cost price dilemma one must deal with. If you operate a high cost model you are not able to offer competitive products.”
Moore then explained that “99 per cent of Suncorp’s customers will have a relationship with at least one other bank.
?“Suncorp often only provides lending products as their secondary bank,” he said.