WE need larger, customer-owned, mutual banks in the banking sector to reduce the market dominance of the Big Four (Commonwealth, Westpac, NAB and ANZ).
The merger into one large mutual bank by the Greater Bank and the Newcastle Permanent Building Society was therefore welcome news. However, I am a little confused as to why the treasurer signed off on the merger, rather than the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission ('Treasury signs off on bank merger', Newcastle Herald, 24/9).
