COMPETITION – AUSTRALIA

Neobanks set for vault into future

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Original article by Richard Gluyas
The Australian – Page: 15 & 16 : 11-Jan-19

Australia’s traditional banks are set to face growing competition from purely digital banks. The majority of banks that have entered the domestic market in the last decade have been foreign owned, but local ‘neobanks’ are changing the status quo. Volt will seek a full banking licence after gaining a restricted licence in May 2018, and the digital bank aims to have a $3m mortgage loan book within three years. Xinja also recently secured a restricted licence, while 86400 is set for a public launch within three months.

CORPORATES
VOLT BANK LIMITED, XINJA BANK LIMITED, 86400 PTY LTD, CUSCAL, AUSTRALIAN PRUDENTIAL REGULATION AUTHORITY, BENDIGO AND ADELAIDE BANK LIMITED – ASX BEN, UP, MONZO, REVOLUT, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB, BARCLAYS BANK PLC

Ten faces uphill task against Netflix, Stan

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Original article by Lilly Vitorovich
The Australian – Page: 22 : 5-Dec-18

US media giant CBS Corporation has officially launched its subscription video-on-demand service in Australia. Consumers will be offered a one-month free trial of 10 All Access, which will then cost $9.99 per month. It will provide advertising-free access to a library of 7,000 titles from CBS and the Ten Network. However, rival SVOD service Stan has an exclusive agreement for content from CBS-owned Showtime. Brian Han of Morningstar says gaining a foothold in the local market will be a challenge for 10 All Access.

CORPORATES
CBS CORPORATION, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, 10 ALL ACCESS, STAN ENTERTAINMENT PTY LTD, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, MORNINGSTAR PTY LTD, SHOWTIME, NINE ENTERTAINMENT COMPANY HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX NEC, FOXTEL NOW, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED

Finance riddled with rent seekers

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Original article by Adam Creighton
The Australian – Page: 2 : 7-Nov-18

Productivity Commission chairman Michael Brennan says much of the Australian banking and wealth management industry’s revenue can be attributed to excessive fees that are a result of limited competition. Financial services is now the biggest sector of the domestic economy; it accounts for nearly nine per cent of economic output, compared with around four per cent in the early 1980s. Meanwhile, Brennan says that health and education reforms will be essential in lifting the nation’s productivity rate.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA. PRODUCTIVITY COMMISSION, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE TREASURY, AUSTRALIAN BANKING ASSOCIATION

Call to rewrite ABC, SBS charters

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Stephen Brook
The Australian – Page: 3 : 25-Jul-18

News Corp Australia has used its submission to an inquiry into the competitive neutrality of the ABC and SBS to argue that taxpayer funding gives them an advantage in the distribution of news content online. The media giant has also called for the public broadcasters’ charters to be overhauled to ensure a "level-playing field" with regard to online news content. In addition, News Corp argues that the ABC should not compete with commercial rivals for contracts to supply news content to third parties.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, SKY NEWS, GOOGLE INCORPORATED

ACCC’s electricity reform could crush smaller retailers

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Original article by Cole Latimer
The Age – Page: 18 : 13-Jul-18

The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission’s recommendations arising from its review into the retail electricity sector include the adoption of a "basic price offer" and changes to electricity discounting. Both recommendations are expected to impact most on smaller electricity retailers, and could force them to merge with larger rivals. Tony Wood of the Grattan Institute notes that the current level of competition has not necessarily benefited consumers, so they may not be worse off if there are fewer electricity retailers.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GRATTAN INSTITUTE, AUSTRALIAN ENERGY REGULATOR, MACQUARIE WEALTH MANAGEMENT

Calls for Netflix to back local content

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Original article by Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 24 : 2-Jul-18

Screen Producers Australia has used its submission to the competitive neutrality inquiry into public broadcasting to push for local content quotas to be extended to streaming video providers. It noted that Netflix has a larger library of Australian content on its US platform than it offers to local subscribers. SPA has called for government intervention to ensure that local content producers are not disadvantaged, while it has also urged legislative action to protect content producers against unfair contracts with regard to broadcasting and streaming rights.

CORPORATES
SCREEN PRODUCERS AUSTRALIA, AUSTRALIAN BROADCASTING CORPORATION, SPECIAL BROADCASTING SERVICE (SBS), NETFLIX INCORPORATED, AMAZON PRIME VIDEO, CBS CORPORATION, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD

Customers win as Amazon, eBay face off

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Original article by Chris Griffith
The Australian – Page: 3 : 19-Jun-18

E-commerce giant Amazon has advised that Australians who join its premium subscription service will receive free delivery on many items in just two business days. Amazon Prime will be officially launched in Australia on 19 June, and it will compete with the recently launched eBay Plus service. Australians will be able to take out a free trial subscription to both services, while Amazon and eBay are also offering a discounted annual subscription package for a limited time.

CORPORATES
AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, EBAY AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND PTY LTD, EBAY INCORPORATED, MYER HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX MYR, TARGET AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, CHEMIST WAREHOUSE

Kogan to push into whitegoods

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Original article by James Thomson
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 5-Jun-18

Online retailer Kogan.com aims to begin selling whitegoods and large kitchen appliances by the end of 2018. Founder and CEO Ruslan Kogan says the logistics aspects associated with the sale of such bulky items has made the whitegoods retail sector relatively immune to the challenges posed by online retailers, but he says it is "ripe for the picking". News of Kogan.com’s foray into whitegoods saw shares in established whitegoods retailers decline on 4 June, with Harvey Norman and JB Hi-Fi down 2.8 per cent and 3.7 per cent respectively.

CORPORATES
KOGAN.COM LIMITED – ASX KGN, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN, JB HI-FI LIMITED – ASX JBH, THE GOOD GUYS

Tech giants in abuses of power

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Original article by Darren Davidson, Dana McCauley
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 4-May-18

Many of the submissions to the Australian Competition & Consumer Commission’s inquiry into digital platforms have highlighted the impact of Google and Facebook on jobs and advertising revenue in the media sector. Seven Group CEO Ryan Stokes argued that digital companies should be required to pay a fair price for distributing media content, while Foxtel said it is hard to attract new pay-TV customers when pirated content can be accessed for free on Facebook and YouTube. The Australian Association of National Advertisers called for digital platforms to be regulated in a similar way to traditional media companies.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, GOOGLE INCORPORATED, FACEBOOK INCORPORATED, SEVEN GROUP HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX SVW, FOXTEL MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, YOUTUBE INCORPORATED, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATION OF NATIONAL ADVERTISERS, NEWS CORP AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, NEWS CORPORATION – ASX NWS, MEDIA, ENTERTAINMENT AND ARTS ALLIANCE, AUSTRALIAN ASSOCIATED PRESS PTY LTD, TEN NETWORK HOLDINGS LIMITED, SEVEN NETWORK LIMITED, NINE NETWORK AUSTRALIA LIMITED, FAIRFAX MEDIA LIMITED – ASX FXJ, AMAZON.COM INCORPORATED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED

ACCC suggests breaking up NBN

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 6-Apr-18

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has called on the Federal Government to break the NBN up prior to selling it. The ACCC noted that it had held this view since the 2014 Vertigan review, which had called for the NBN to be broken up. ACCC chairman Rod Sims says the government should try to expose the NBN to as much competition as possible, and that this should be at the forefront of its thinking when it comes to privatising the NBN, rather than how much profit it can make.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, NBN CO LIMITED