Australia

The Australian banking sector continues to be highly concentrated and dominated by four large banks, which together hold approximately 77 percent of total banking assets. The financial sector in Australia is dominated by 83 commercial banks (59 percent of financial assets) and pension funds (27 percent), with total financial sectors assets of about 400 percent of GDP. The four largest banks, with largely similar business models, have been designated as domestic systemically important banks (D-SIBs) in Australia. While their pricing power has helped to sustain strong profitability, their size implies that, in the event of their failure, the impact on the financial system and the economy as a whole would be potentially enormous.