Merger Reform Cost Recovery Fees Consultation
Submission Date: 18 June 2025
The Competition and Consumer Committee of the Business Law Section (the Committee) provided a submission in response to Treasury’s consultation paper in relation to merger filing fees under the new merger regime (the Consultation).
The Committee is concerned with the approach proposed to merger filing fees in the Consultation. The approach risks adversely impacting the number, size and type of transactions that occur across the Australian economy, with an associated negative impact on dynamism and productivity.
The Committee is concerned that the structure and disincentives created by the filing fees, as framed in the Consultation, will undermine the credibility and reputation of the regime domestically and globally. There simply is no precedent in Australia or in other mature antitrust regimes for a single, blanket administrative fee of this scale being applied across all notifiable transactions regardless of size.
In particular, the regime risks being perceived as limiting access to robust analysis, accountability and review by the ACCC only to very large corporates undertaking very large and high-value transactions. This regulatory burden will be a particular drag in sectors such as information technology, health care, mining services and other markets where the acquisition of small or medium-sized firms is more common. It is also likely to disproportionately impact regional areas.
Last Updated on 25/06/2025
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