The competition watchdog has confirmed it is looking into claims digital settlement company PEXA has stymied competition in the property settlements market.
According to a report in The Australian, a spokesperson for the ACCC confirmed the competition regulator was investigating issues raised by PEXA rival, Sympli, but would not elaborate further.
The investigation is believed to be centred around Section 46 of the Competition and Consumer Act, which prohibits a business with substantial market power from engaging “in conduct that has the purpose, effect or likely effect of substantially lessening competition in a market”.
Sympli is said to have raised concerns with the ACCC about the ASX-listed PEXA deliberately delaying so-called interoperability, which is where rival systems talk with each other to enable property transactions to be completed across different operators.
The watchdog is also said to be examining whether PEXA withheld access to information that Sympli news to move forward and build its own electronic lodgement network.
The examination of Pexa comes after the watchdog said in March that it was reviewing Canadian Dye & Duram’s $3.7 billion bid for Australila’s Link Administration Holdings, according to the Australian Financial Review.
Link owns a 43 per cent stake in PEXA.
