Financial regulators to appear before House Economics Committee

THREE of Australia’s key economic regulators – the Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA), the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) – will appear before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics at a public hearing on Friday, September 10, 2021.

In the first part of the hearing, the committee will take evidence from all three regulators in support of its inquiry into the implications of capital concentration and common ownership in Australia. This will be one of the first public hearings in support of this new inquiry.

Common ownership refers to when institutional investors simultaneously own shares in competing firms, which can pose a risk to competition. The committee will investigate the extent of common ownership of publicly listed companies and the impact on investment decisions, competition, consumer harm and market behaviour.

Committee Chair Mr Tim Wilson MP said, "Common ownership has implications for investors and competition. We need to be sure we are empowering citizens as investors and customers, and not organised capital. The committee is looking forward to hearing the views of the ACCC, ASIC and APRA on this important topic."

The committee will use the second part of the hearing to continue its public review of the 2020 Annual Reports of both APRA and ASIC, following a similar hearing on March 29, 2021.

"When ASIC and APRA appeared before the committee earlier this year, we were keen to understand how they had responded to the COVID-19 pandemic, and to the associated economic stimulus measures taken by government," Mr Wilson said.

"The committee is looking forward to following-up on some of these questions. It is important that the Australian people have insight into the steps that our regulators are taking to promote resilience within the Australian economy during this time of uncertainty."

The full terms of reference for the inquiry into common ownership and capital concentration are available on the committee’s website.

Public hearing details

Date: Friday, 10 September 2021
Time: 9am to 4.30pm
Witnesses: ASIC, APRA, ACCC

Due to health and safety concerns relating to the COVID-19 pandemic, this hearing is not currently scheduled to be open for public attendance. Interested members of the public will be able to view proceedings via the live webcast at aph.gov.au/live.

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