Australia's Commonwealth Bank and Goldman Sachs have announced a strategic alliance that will create a preeminent capability in equities by combining leading equity capital markets and investment research expertise with Australia’s largest online retail share trading platform.
The alliance will enable CommSec and Commonwealth Private Bank customers to access Goldman Sachs’ pipeline of equity offerings, including IPOs and will also see ongoing collaboration between Commonwealth Bank and Goldman Sachs in servicing the equity capital markets needs of Commonwealth Bank’s corporate customers. Goldman Sachs will also provide eligible Commonwealth Bank customers with access to the full suite of Goldman Sachs’ Australian and New Zealand investment research, as well as its global macroeconomic and strategic research.
Adam Bennett, Commonwealth Bank, Group Executive for Business and Private Banking said, “This alliance further enhances the products and services we deliver to our customers, providing them with high-quality independent perspectives as they invest in equity markets.
“It provides our customers access to Goldman Sachs’ suite of highly rated Australian and New Zealand equity research as well as global macroeconomic and strategic research. In addition, many of our CommSec advisors, Commonwealth Private bankers and wealth managers and our corporate bankers will have the added benefit of accessing research on over 3,100 stocks across five regions globally. This will provide another opportunity to deliver better outcomes for our customers,” Mr Bennett said.
Simon Rothery, Chief Executive Officer of Goldman Sachs in Australia and New Zealand said, “We are delighted to be forming an alliance with the Commonwealth Bank, with exclusive access to CommSec, Australia’s largest online retail share trading platform, which will greatly enhance our combined abilities to execute a range of equity financing solutions for all of our clients.”
Commonwealth Bank’s proprietary Institutional Equities team that forms part of the Group’s Institutional Banking & Markets business will wind down from 16 December 2015. Certain roles will be affected by this decision and the Group is working through the impact on its people, including exploring opportunities for redeployment both within Commonwealth Bank and Goldman Sachs.
Kelly Bayer Rosmarin, Commonwealth Bank, Group Executive for Institutional Banking and Markets said, "Our Institutional Equities business has high calibre people, who have led or participated in nearly $60 billion in capital raisings and government privatisations in Australia. Making the decision to discontinue this team has been difficult. Our clients are increasingly operating internationally, and while we are able to offer global solutions in many parts of our business, we have not been able to provide access to global equity markets.
“Meeting this need with a partner of Goldman Sachs' global capability and reputation is an exceptional outcome for our clients. We are very enthusiastic about the benefits that two leading firms working together can bring to our clients.
“We are also continuing to invest in our leading debt and hybrid securities capital markets offering and will continue to deliver our award winning global markets research, which includes our economics, fixed income and foreign exchange research, to complement this offering,” Ms Bayer Rosmarin said.
