The Federal Assistant Treasurer and Minister for Financial Services and Superannuation, Bill Shorten, together with the Deputy Premier of NSW and Minister for Trade and Investment, Andrew Stoner, today announced that a consortium led by the University of New South Wales has been selected to host the Centre for International Finance and Regulation.
The Centre is a Government initiative that was announced in the 2010-11 Budget. The Commonwealth will provide $12.1 million in funding for the Centre over the next four years.
The Centre will also receive an additional $6 million funding from the NSW government and a further $6 million from corporate sources and universities. In addition, the Centre will receive $17.5 million of in-kind support, including from New York University and Capital Markets CRC/Securities Industry Research Centre of Asia-Pacific.
The Centre will represent a strategic link between academia, financial regulators, Government and the financial industry. The focus of the Centre will be to put Australia at the forefront of regional and global examination of financial sector developments and the design of regulatory responses to these developments.
"I am very pleased to see the Centre establish collaborative links with UCLA's Fink Centre for Finance and Investments and the Stern School of Business at New York University. These links will strengthen Australia as a financial centre for academic and professional research and study," Mr Shorten said.
"The creation of the Centre for International Finance and Regulation is a key part of the Gillard Government's work to promote Australia as a financial services centre."
Mr Stoner said "Finance and Insurance services is the most important sector in the NSW economy so the NSW Government was keen to secure this important project.
"I met with NYU representatives both here and in New York to advocate for the Centre, and the NSW Innovation Council played a key role in ensuring a coordinated approach was taken by all the participating NSW universities."
The Centre will seek to enhance understanding of global financial markets, their interconnectedness, and their influence on national economies. It would aim to examine ways of having an innovative financial system which fosters economic growth balanced with reduced risk.
The University of New South Wales consortium was selected after an extensive open tender process conducted by the Commonwealth.
The other members of the consortium are The University of Sydney, Sydney University of Technology, Macquarie University, University of Melbourne, Australian National University, New York University, University of California Los Angeles, Capital Markets CRC and the Securities Industry Research Centre of Asia-Pacific. Support is also being provided by the NSW State Government, KPMG, Commonwealth Bank of Australia and Macquarie Group.