| Type | Public |
|---|---|
| Traded as | ASX: MQG |
| Industry | Diversified Financials |
| Founded | Sydney, Australia (1970) |
| Headquarters | Sydney, Australia |
| Key people | Kevin McCann, Chairman Nicholas W. Moore, CEO |
| Products | Financial Services |
| Revenue | AUD A$6.6 billion (2009)[1] |
| Net income | AUD A$1.05 billion (2009) |
| Total assets | AUD A$326 billion (2009) |
| Employees | 23,540 (2011) |
| Website | www.macquarie.com.au |
Macquarie Group Limited (ASX: MQG) is a global investment banking and diversified financial services group, providing banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services to institutional, corporate and retail clients and counterparties around the world. Headquartered in Sydney, Macquarie is the largest investment bank and the top ranked mergers and acquisitions advisor in Australia.[2]
Macquarie is listed in Australia (ASX:MQG) and is regulated by APRA, the Australian banking regulator, as the owner of Macquarie Bank Limited, an authorised deposit taker.
On 30 October 2009 Macquarie announced a net profit after tax for the half year to 30 September 2009 of A$479 million, an increase of 79% on the prior half and a decrease of 21% on the prior corresponding first half period.[3] In 2010, however, as a result of subdued market conditions, Macquarie issued two profit downgrades in the space of three months, resulting in a sharp fall in the share price of the company.[4]
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Macquarie was founded in 1969 and it began its operation, with only three staff, from Sydney in January 1970 as Hill Samuel Australia, a subsidiary of the UK's Hill Samuel.
In 1981, in response to changes evolving from the deregulation of financial markets, Hill Samuel Australia commenced work on a proposal to become a trading bank. Authority for Hill Samuel Australia to become Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL) was received from the Federal Treasurer in 1985, making it only the second private trading bank to be established in Australia in modern times.
Macquarie took its name from Lachlan Macquarie, an early Governor of New South Wales who dramatically transformed the early settlement in Australia from a penal colony into a dynamic economy.
Macquarie Bank took over Hill Samuel Australia and opened its doors for business in 1985 in Sydney. A trading bank was opened in Melbourne the same year and in Brisbane in November 1986.
The company listed on the ASX in 1996, and on 30 October 1996 entered the ASX's All Ordinaries Index, with a market capitalisation of approximately $1.3 billion. In 2007, MBL securityholders and the Federal Court approved the restructure of the Macquarie group into a non-operating holding company (NOHC) structure. The NOHC and ultimate parent of the Macquarie group, Macquarie Group Limited, is ASX listed.[5] Macquarie Group is regulated by APRA, the Australian banking regulator, as the owner of Macquarie Bank Limited, an authorised deposit taker.[6]
Macquarie manages a number of listed and unlisted investment funds which contributed approximately 12 per cent of Macquarie’s total underlying operating income for the half year ended 30 September 2009. The funds own assets that deliver services including transport, roads, airports and utilities.
Macquarie employs more than 15,500 staff in more than 70 office locations across 28 countries.[6] Macquarie's operations are now global with staff located in the following countries: Australia, Austria, Brazil, Canada, China, Germany, France, Argentina, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Luxembourg, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Philippines, Russia, Singapore, South Africa, Sweden, Switzerland, Mexico, Thailand, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom and the United States.
In 2009 Macquarie acquired:
Macquarie's business activities are organised into five principal operating groups: Macquarie Capital (formerly Investment Banking Group), Macquarie Securities Group (MSG), Fixed Income, Currencies and Commodities (FICC) (formerly Treasury and Commodities Group (TCG)), Macquarie Funds Group (MFG), and the Banking and Financial Services Group (BFS).[7] In addition to the operating groups, Macquarie has a network of support areas: Corporate Affairs Group, Information Technology Group and Risk Management Group.
Macquarie's managing director and chief executive officer is Nicholas Moore, who replaced Allan Moss in May 2008, and the board chairman is . David Clarke served as Executive Director from 1985 to 2007, and Chairman from 2007 to 2011.[8]
In 2005 Macquarie announced a hostile takeover bid for the London Stock Exchange valuing the company at £1.5 billion, a bid rejected by LSE management as "derisory".
In 2007 the bank, together with a number of private equity firms, unsuccessfully attempted to take over Qantas.
The Macquarie Group Foundation was formally established in 1984 and in the year to 31 March 2009, contributed A$18.3 million to more than 900 community organisations globally. Complementing this contribution, Macquarie staff raised more than A$7.7 million for not-for-profit organisations.[9]
Macquarie Bank maintains very strong political connections through the appointment of former politicians and senior political staffers to senior positions.
Macquarie Group's logo is a representation of the 'Holey dollar', Australia's first coinage, created by Governor Macquarie to overcome a currency shortage faced by the early Australian settlers. The official explanation is that Governor Macquarie's creation of the Holey Dollar was "an inspired solution to a difficult problem and for this reason it was chosen as the symbol of the Macquarie Group."
Macquarie group through its subsidiary Macquarie Equipment Rentals has allegedly been perpetrating a telco finance scam. Macquarie Equipment Rentals has sued over 300 victims of the scam which involves bundling a finance equipment contract with a contract from a small telecommunications company often obscuring that the finance contract exists.[10]
The scam involves the telecommunications company promising free equipment such as plasma tvs while offering a lower cost phone deal that offsets the cost of the equipment. The victim is then tricked into signing two contracts with the true costs often hidden while being verbally promised that they will be free. The telecommunications company is paid an upfront fee by the finance company and sometime later disappears. The victim is then left with an inflated finance company lease that requires the victim to pay often tens of thousands of dollars for equipment that in reality costs a fraction of the price.[11]
In January 2009 over 60 people demonstrated outside the Macquarie's office in Vancouver, BC, Canada. They protested Macquarie's involvement in the controversial Gateway Program which they claimed would dramatically increase greenhouse gas emissions, local pollution and sprawl.[12]
The company's high margins and profits, and the rewards for its executives and shareholders, have seen the Australian media label the bank "The Millionaire Factory".