Macquarie Bank Limited is an Australian merchant bank and financial services group, providing a broad range of services to businesses individuals. It has its headquarters in Sydney, and is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange. It is the only large majority Australian-owned investment bank.

The bank had its origins in January 1970 as Hill Samuel Australia, a tiny subsidiary of the UK Hill Samuel, with three staff in Sydney. The company became a trading bank, and changed its name to Macquarie Bank, in 1986, at which time it opened branches in Melbourne and Brisbane. The company listed on the ASX in 1996, with an initial market capitalization of 1.3 milliard AUD.

Its current managing director is Allan Moss, and the board chairman is David Clarke.

The bank took its name from Lachlan Macquarie, an early Governor of New South Wales who dramatically transformed the early colonial economy.

In the past decade, the bank's subsidiary, the Macquarie Infrastrcuture Group, has become the world's largest operator of private toll roads, operating projects in a number of countries. The Infrastructure Group is listed separately on the ASX, but is managed by a wholly-owned subisidiary of the bank. The bank's other subsidiaries have invested in projects such as airports, operating Kingsford Smith International Airport in Sydney, for instance.

The bank's growth, and the consequent rewards for its senior staff, have seen gossipy news website Crikey dub the bank "The Millionaire Factory".

External links

• Macquarie Bank global site (http://www.macquarie.com)
• Macquarie Bank Australian site (http://www.macquarie.com.au/au/index.html)