Macquarie Bank-Backed Fintech Signs New Deal

Australian Financial Review – Sarah Thompson, Anthony Macdonald and Tim Boyd

Former ANZ chief executive Mike Smith isn’t the only big name backing regtech/fintech player Imperium Markets.

Street Talk can reveal Macquarie Bank tipped into the rising star’s capital raising that closed in September.

It is understood Macquarie’s stake sits somewhere around 20 per cent.

The news comes as Imperium this week inked an agreement with interdealer broker ICAP, which will allow Imperium’s clients to report transactions in prime bank paper by utilising ICAP’s approved trading venue.

The agreement with ICAP allows Imperium to go out to a much bigger institutional universe than before and to report the BBSW benchmark.

Imperium has digitized the market experience for around 50 banks and their customers. It is the only fintech in Australia that has been granted a “tier 2” licence to operate a financial market.

It is understood ANZ, NAB and Westpac are all signed up to Imperium’s services.

The Stu Burns-led start-up has a valuation in the $40 million to $50 million range.

Meanwhile, ex-ANZ CEO Mike Smith remains a shareholder and active advisor to the business. He’s the executive who led ANZ into a period of Asian expansion between 2007 and 2015.

That could prove useful to Imperium, as it ramps up its efforts across the region in 2020.

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