Banking and business lobby blast 583-day wait for ANZ’s Suncorp deal

Business is calling for merger approval timeframes to be slashed after it took 583 days for ANZ’s acquisition of Suncorp Bank to be approved.

ANZ announced it wanted to buy Suncorp in July 2022 and sought approval from the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission in December the same year. The regulator rejected the acquisition last July and ANZ appealed to the Australian Competition Tribunal in August.