New Productivity Commission chairman Michael Brennan says much of the Australian banking and wealth management industry’s revenue can be attributed to excessive fees that are a result of limited competition. Brennan also noted that financial services is now the biggest sector of the domestic economy, accounting for nearly 9% of economic output, compared with around 4% in the early 1980s. From The Australian:
[Brennan suggests] a “material” chunk of the sector’s revenue reflects “rent-seeking” — excessive charging owing to a lack of competition — rather than real value…
