Australian government welcoming foreign banks

"Australia's government wants more foreign banks to grow their local operations or enter the market as a near monopoly on its mortgage system continues to hit consumers.

International banks have only a small share of the market in Australia, where the big four local banks control nearly 90% of the mortgage market. Two of those big four banks have raised lending rates beyond the country's central bank in just the last week, prompting Canberra to promise sweeping reforms to open up the mortgage market to greater competition."