Washington – The Computer & Communications Industry Association submitted comments on the Australian Treasury’s consultation on merger reform, which is part of the government’s broader review of the country’s competition regime. CCIA advised regulators to also consider the benefits of mergers and acquisitions so that any new rules are tailored to address problems that could arise without banning procompetitive mergers.
CCIA has advocated for tech policy that advances competition and innovation for over 50 years.
The following can be attributed to CCIA Vice President of Global Competition and Regulatory Policy Krisztian Katona:
“If the goal is to promote innovation and bring more efficiency while also protecting consumers from anticompetitive mergers, we would advise regulators to develop ways to fully evaluate the market dynamics before embarking on reforming the Australian merger review system. Overly rigid merger control could also hinder the very sort of innovation that regulators should incentivize – startups – by drying up revenue from investors who must gamble on a company’s narrower future options. Many mergers and acquisitions are procompetitive and failing to recognize that would leave the economic landscape less competitive.”