The Customer Owned Banking Association (COBA) has welcomed the recognition of competition within an updated Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between APRA and the ACCC.
Designed to foster closer collaboration, the updated MOU is a good sign that the two regulators are committed to building their relationship at a time when competition is crucial to economic recovery, says CEO of COBA Michael Lawrence.
“It is encouraging to see both regulators reinforce the importance of competition to a healthy financial system.
“A competitive banking market is key to delivering the best outcomes for customers as we work through the largest economic downturn in living memory.
“With the highest customer satisfaction and trust in the market, customer owned banking institutions have all the inherent qualities for applying competitive pressure on the major banks.
“Government and regulators must take a balanced approached to new regulation in this economic environment, ensuring competition remains strong. Smaller banking institutions are disproportionately impacted by regulation, with the relatively higher cost of compliance diverting resources away from customers.
“Our members are supporting over 4.5 million customers through this crisis, and it’s important they can continue to deliver full capacity to this priority.”
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