A Financial Tale of Two Cities: Sydney and Melbourne's Remarkable Contest for Commercial Supremacy

(Paperback)

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Describes the intense commercial rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne over a period of 150 years. While Sydney was established nearly 50 years before Melbourne, the great wealth generated by the Victorian goldfields soon gave Melbourne an unassailable position as the continent's richest centre of commerce. The story of this contest for commercial supremacy is based on Jim Bain's own long experience in the Australian financial-services industry, and particularly his exposure to the competition and fierce rivalry that existed between the leading Melbourne- and Sydney-based banks, merchant banks, fund managers and stockbrokers. Bain focuses on the roles played by several financial institutions and key personalities over many decades.

Author Bio

Jim Bain AM, now farmer and company director, retired stockbroker and banker, has enjoyed an illustrious career in Australian business; he is a doyen of Sydney's financial community, and has been one of its leading figures for more than 40 years. Employed at Bain & Company from 1947 to 1987 (and Senior Partner from 1972 to 1987), he was Chairman of Natwest Australia Bank 1985 - 91 and a Member of the Sydney Stock Exchange 1954 - 92, and its Chairman from 1983 to 1987. Bain was awarded membership of the Order of Australia in 1986, for services to commerce, and in May 2003 was awarded the Centenary Medal for service to Australian Society through the arts and business. Bain is the author of the autobiographical The Remarkable Roller Coaster, Forty Years in the Australian Finance Industry.