Saturday, December 21, 2013

Macquarie began in 1969 as merchant bank Hill Samuel Australia (HSA)



Macquarie's operations began in 1969 as merchant bank Hill Samuel Australia (HSA), a subsidiary of Hill Samuel & Co. Limited, London. It opened its doors in Sydney in January 1970 with just three staff. Today, Macquarie provides banking, financial, advisory, investment and funds management services from more than 70 offices around the world.
In 1981, following the deregulation of financial markets, HSA commenced work on a proposal to become a trading bank. HSA was given authority to become Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL) by the Federal Treasurer of Australia on 28 February 1985. It was only the second private trading bank to be established in Australia during the twentieth century.

Macquarie Bank took its name from Lachlan Macquarie, who as Governor of New South Wales transformed the early settlement in Australia from a penal colony into a dynamic economy. His many achievements include the establishment of Australia's first bank and introduction of its first domestic coinage in 1813, the Holey Dollar.
Macquarie's logo is a stylised version of this coin.
Macquarie Bank took over the existing activities of HSA and commenced operations on 1 March 1985 with a retail branch in Sydney. A trading bank branch was opened in Melbourne a few months later and in Brisbane in November 1986.
On 29 July 1996, MBL listed its fully paid ordinary shares on the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and on 30 October 1996 entered the ASX's All Ordinaries Index with a market capitalisation of approximately $A1.3 billion.

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