A financial tale of two cities : Sydney and Melbourne's remarkable contest for commercial supremacy / Jim Bain.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bain, Jim, 1929-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Finance--Australia--Sydney (N.S.W.).

Finance.

Merchant banks.

Stockbrokers.

Australia.

Finance--Australia--Melbourne (Vic.).

Stockbrokers--Australia--New South Wales--Sydney.

New South Wales.

Stockbrokers--Australia--Melbourne (Vic.).

Merchant banks--Australia--Sydney (N.S.W.).

Merchant banks--Australia--Melbourne (Vic.).

Banks and banking--Australia--Sydney (N.S.W.).

Banks and banking.

Banks and banking--Australia--Melbourne (Vic.).

Physical Description:

ix, 301 pages : illustrations ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Sydney, N.S.W. : UNSW Press, 2007.

Summary:

A Financial Tale of Two Cities describes the intense commercial rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne over a period of some 150 years. While Sydney was established nearly half a century before Melbourne, the great wealth generated by the Victorian goldfields soon ensured that Melbourne held an unassailable position as the continent's leading and richest centre of finance. Melbourne retained this supremacy through the greater part of the twentieth century, but from the 1970s a dynamic environment in Sydney challenged Melbourne's financial dominance. It was clear by the end of the twentieth century that Sydney had become Australia's dominant financial centre.

The story of this contest for financial supremacy is largely based on Jim Bain's long experience in the Australian financial-services industry, and particularly his exposure to the competition and often fierce rivalry that existed between the leading Mel bourne-and Sydney-based banks, merchant banks, fund managers and stockbrokers. Bain focuses on the key roles played by several financial institutions - and within them, certain key personalities - over many decades.

Contents:

Background to this Story xi

Part I The Stockbrokers

Chapter 1 The Reign of JB Were & Son 16

Chapter 2 Melbourne Challengers: Ian Potter and AC Goode 36

Chapter 3 Sydney Fields Major Players 52

Chapter 4 Ord Minnett Competes with Melbourne 59

Chapter 5 Bain & Company Levels the Playing Field 71

Chapter 6 Specialist and Family Firms 78

Chapter 7 Melbourne and Sydney Stock Exchanges 86

Part II The Merchant Banks

Chapter 8 Growth of the Merchant Banks 110

Chapter 9 Overseas Banks and Stockbrokers Dominate 126

Part III The Banks and Finance Companies

Chapter 10 Trading with the Banks: Sydney 138

Chapter 11 Trading with the Banks: Melbourne 178

Chapter 12 New Banks and Finance Companies 200

Chapter 13 Banking between the Two Cities 210

Part IV Other Influential Players

Chapter 14 Fund Managers 218

Chapter 15 Futures Trading in Sydney 236

Chapter 16 State Governments and Power Politics 246

Chapter 17 Regulators in the Finance Industry 260

Epilogue: Sydney versus Melbourne 265.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780868409634

0868409634

OCLC:

154686173