Aussie Bank Tax Has Macquarie Pondering HQ Shift, AFR Says

(Bloomberg) -- Macquarie Group Ltd. has told some politicians that it's canvassing options to potentially relocate its headquarters outside Australia, according to a report from the Australian Financial Review.

Citing senior sources it didn't identify, the AFR said executives at the Sydney-based lender had relayed to at least one of the major political parties that it is considering options for a move overseas following the announcement of a new Australian bank tax last month. Federal Treasurer Scott Morrison unveiled the levy, which will be imposed on Macquarie and its four biggest domestic peers, as part of the annual budget, saying the tax is expected to raise a total of A$6.2 billion ($4.6 billion) over four years.

“As we have said over the years, Macquarie consistently looks at the most 
appropriate locations for its businesses and head office,” a spokeswoman for Macquarie said in an email to Bloomberg News. More than 40 percent of the company's staff work in Australia and the country “remains a key market” even though around two thirds of the group's business is in other countries, she said.

While the impost has been criticized by Macquarie's larger peers, the bank has not made any public comment on it beyond a short stock exchange statement in which it noted its impact was “unclear.” Macquarie operates in 27 countries.

To contact the reporter on this story: Emily Cadman in Sydney at ecadman2@bloomberg.net.

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Marcus Wright at mwright115@bloomberg.net, Benjamin Purvis, Garfield Reynolds