Why Focus R&D Resources on Capital Markets?

The Wallis Report into the Australian financial system states that financial markets provided over $40 billion worth of services to other areas of the economy each year. There are very large efficiency gains and cost savings which could be released from the existing system through improvement to the regulatory framework and through innovation and technology.

The Capital Markets CRC (CMCRC) is responding to this challenge by providing new technologies and improvements in market design. The CMCRC strategy is to target its research to current and future challenges faced by the Capital Markets.

In granting funding to the CMCRC, the Federal Government recognises the fundamental importance of the capital markets to the rest of the economy. Improving efficiency, stability and integrity in capital markets leads to a more reliable supply of larger amounts of cheaper capital to industry. This in turn encourages growth through innovation and development, all of which are prerequisites for wealth creation.

Innovations in technology for use in capital markets directly affect the wealth of market participants and the economy as a whole. CMCRC’s mission is to contribute directly and indirectly to wealth creation and the economy by creating and promoting technologies that increase the efficiency and integrity of capital markets, locally and globally.

The Pace of Change … Why Research Gives You the Edge

Think about a global market place where investors can trade any financial product, any time, any place, with any communication device.

Changes in capital markets over the last two decades have been profound, however these changes will look small relative to what is likely to happen over the next decade. We can already see strategic alliances forming that highlight the emergence of truly global markets.

Each of these markets will be the conduit for trillions of dollars. At a fraction of a cent per transaction, the organisations that provide the technology (the intelligent software and the ‘plumbing’) to one or more of these groups will make Microsoft’s fortune look modest. The Capital Markets CRC is already a serious participant in this field and intends to be a major force in the provision of software to these organisations.

The CMCRC with its high profile and prestige industry partners from the regulatory, stock broking and super-computing fields believes that Australia will ‘punch well above its weight’ in this field and in the process, deliver significant wealth creation for Australia.