Australia's digital property settlement market is edging towards a single-operator future after the ASX offloaded its 49% stake in Sympli for a nominal sum — a move that one of the country's leading conveyancing firms says clears the path for an unchallenged PEXA monopoly.
PEXA already processes around 99% of digital property settlements in Australia, a dominance cemented further by regulator ARNECC's decision to abandon the interoperability reforms that would have opened the platform to rivals.
Lawlab managing director Ian Perkins (pictured) said the decision signals a broader loss of faith in competition.
"When the ASX decides its stake in the only alternative platform is worth next to nothing, it sends a clear message — the market has given up on competition," Perkins said.
For mortgage brokers, the stakes are practical as well as structural. Sympli has developed a fully operational platform capable of processing both refinances and property transfers, yet major banks have declined to accept Sympli workspaces, effectively cutting off the volume the platform needs to remain viable.
Perkins points to a structural conflict at the heart of the problem: CBA holds approximately 25.77% of PEXA — confirmed in an ASX substantial holding notice in March 2025 — while also controlling around a quarter of Australia's home loan market.
"When the biggest lender is also the biggest beneficiary of the monopoly settlement platform, it's no surprise the banks refuse to accept alternatives. This is a structural conflict of interest and consumers are the ones paying for it," he said.
The competitive landscape was already narrowing before the ASX move. In May 2025, rival platform Lextech abandoned its six-year attempt to challenge PEXA, having spent $10 million without securing meaningful lender support — leaving Sympli as the sole remaining challenger. With the ASX now gone, Sympli's future as a competitive force looks increasingly uncertain.
Perkins painted a blunt picture of what a PEXA-only market could mean for everyday transactions.
"If PEXA goes down, settlements stop. Families can't move in, removalists wait on the street, bridging finance blows out, and consumers have no alternative platform to turn to because there is no choice, no backup, and no recourse," he said.
Lawlab is not waiting for regulatory intervention. With ARNECC having stepped back from reform, Perkins says the banking sector must now act.
"They could unlock competition tomorrow simply by accepting Sympli workspaces," he said.
The firm is calling for a coordinated industry commitment to route at least 10% of all property settlements through Sympli within the next 12 months — arguing that without deliberate support, the competitor will wither regardless of its technical capability.
"Banks, conveyancers, and lenders need to support Sympli now or accept the consequences of a single point of failure in the property settlement market," Perkins said.
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