CCIA Comments on the Australian Treasury’s Merger Reform Consultation

Reform of the Merger Notification Regime One of the key points of the Consultation is the proposal to change the current voluntary merger notification regime to a mandatory notification regime.14 Importantly, voluntary 9 From fiscal year 2011 to 2020, mergers have increased R&D expenditure by as much as $13.5 billion annually in the U. [...] Effectiveness, efficiency, transparency, and predictability are key objectives that sound merger control regimes should follow at all stages of the merger review process.18 As the Treasury notes in the Consultation paper, “an efficient and effective merger control regime should seek to achieve its policy objective at the lowest cost possible and in a timely manner, with appropriate powers and reso. [...] Papers also report that hours worked in Australia’s utilities sectors have increased, decreasing productivity.31 Another report also supports the theory that the broader national productivity decrease in Australia is driven by the declines in the mining and utilities industries.32 This report further claims that increases in the demand for energy and minerals in the mining sector have led to an in. [...] The ACCC’s Merger Reform Proposal May Hinder Transactions for Small and Medium Sized Businesses Startups and small and medium sized businesses (SMBs) rely on mergers and acquisitions to enter a market, grow within it, and better compete with the larger participants of the market. [...] 61 See, e.g., American Bar Association, “Comments of the American Bar Association Antitrust Law and International Law Sections in response to the request of the Japan Fair Trade Commission (“JFTC”) request for comments on its proposed revised Guidelines to Application of the Antimonopoly Act Concerning Review of Business Combination and revised Policies Concerning Procedures of Review of Business.