Liddy calls for pillars policy to be brought down
(20 June 2005 – Australia) Bank of Queensland managing director David Liddy has called on the Australian government to abandon the four pillars policy which prohibits the four major commercial banks from merging.
During a keynote speech at the Australia-Israel Chamber of Commerce, Liddy said the policy was self-conscious protectionism and was inconsistent with government policy in the rest of the economy.
"The four pillars policy is actually contributing to stress in the Australian banking sector and the end result is an unnecessary vulnerability to outside influences," Liddy said.
"If the four big banks merged to create a much bigger two, it would allow the smaller banks like Bank of Queensland to step forward and serve the Australian retail customer, while the national banks could look outward to the world stage," he said.
Liddy said it was unlikely that regional banks would merge in the near future despite the significant synergies that such a merger would achieve.
"This is unlikely as there are some pretty strong egos involved, including my own," Liddy quipped.
"The four pillars policy is actually contributing to stress in the Australian banking sector and the end result is an unnecessary vulnerability to outside influences," Liddy said.
"If the four big banks merged to create a much bigger two, it would allow the smaller banks like Bank of Queensland to step forward and serve the Australian retail customer, while the national banks could look outward to the world stage," he said.
Liddy said it was unlikely that regional banks would merge in the near future despite the significant synergies that such a merger would achieve.
"This is unlikely as there are some pretty strong egos involved, including my own," Liddy quipped.
Subscribe