Four pillars policy
The four pillars policy is an Australian Government policy to maintain the separation of the four largest banks in Australia by rejecting any merger or acquisition between the four major banks. The policy, rather than formal regulation, first articulated in 1990, reflects the competitive concerns of more concentration as well as the broad political unpopularity of further bank mergers. A number of economically liberalist commentators have argued that the "four pillars" policy is built upon economic fallacies and works against Australia's better interests. The top four banking groups in Australia ranked by market capitalisation at share prices at 5 June 2021: By market capitalisation, the Commonwealth Bank and Westpac are usually the two biggest companies on the Australian Securities Exchange and the big four banks make up a quarter of the ASX200. History In 1990, the then Labor Treasurer Paul Keating adopted a policy, originally called "six pillars" — which covered the big four banks (Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank, Australia & New Zealand Banking Group and two insurers (AMP and National Mutual) — that further mergers of these institutions would be rejected. It was articulated in the context of a proposed merger between ANZ and National Mutual. Keating