The Commonwealth government will introduce a "responsible lending test" to the consumer credit code next year according to sources. Under the new rules, lenders.....
Months of scrutiny for St George takeover 16 May 2008
Westpac chief Gail Kelly has said that it could take up to four months for the corporate regulator to decide whether or not to allow the proposed takeover of St George by Westpac to proceed. The Australian Competition and Consumer Commission said yesterday that it had not yet received any formal submission from Westpac about the bid and that a major deal like this could take as many as 12 weeks to assess. The Commonwealth Bank is keeping its options for making a counter-offer open, with chief executive Ralph Norris refusing to rule anything in or out. "We are assessing the situation and will come to a decision over the next period ahead as to whether or not we will have any strong interest," he said.
