ANZ chief says tax regime blocks Australia's financial hub ambitions
ANZ CEO Nuno Matos says Australia's tax regime, including recent capital gains changes, prevents it from becoming a top Asian financial hub.
Australia possesses some of the building blocks needed to become a leading financial centre in the Asia-Pacific, but its tax system is holding it back, according to ANZ Group Chief Executive Nuno Matos.
Speaking at a conference in Sydney on Tuesday, Matos said developing capital markets and a large pool of domestic savings through the country's compulsory pension system were two essential conditions for a financial hub. Australia, he noted, has both.
What it lacks, he argued, is a tax regime capable of drawing foreign capital. "You also need to have very favourable taxation (to be a financial hub). And in that case, Australia does not have it," the Portuguese-born former HSBC executive said.
Matos pointed to Hong Kong and Singapore, which he said levy effectively no tax on capital, as examples of regional centres that attract investment. Capital, he added, is not drawn to high-tax environments.
"You cannot expect to be a financial hub if you don't attract capital, financial capital," he said, adding that "capital taxation needs to be different".
His comments come after Australia's parliament in June passed legislation scrapping the 50% capital gains tax discount on assets held for more than a year, effective from July 1, 2027. The change returns to the pre-1999 policy of taxing inflation-indexed gains, with a 30% minimum tax on net capital gains.
Last week, parliament also passed legislation broadening the types of assets on which foreign residents are subject to capital gains tax.