Sydney CBD Business Guide: Australia's Financial Capital and the World's Most Beautiful Business District

The Sydney CBD is Australia's most important business address and one of the world's most spectacular central business districts: the combination of the Sydney Harbour setting (the Opera House, the Harbour Bridge, and the extraordinary blue expanse of one of the world's great natural harbours as the backdrop to the city's glass-and-steel skyline), the extraordinary concentration of financial, legal, and professional services firms in the Martin Place-George Street-Macquarie Street corridor, and Sydney's role as the Australian headquarters for the majority of Australia's ASX-listed companies and international corporations create a business environment of unique quality and vitality. The Sydney CBD is the headquarters of Australia's four major banks (ANZ, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank, and NAB all have significant Sydney CBD operations), the major investment banks (Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Macquarie Group), and the insurance, funds management, and professional services firms that constitute Australia's financial services sector.

The Financial Services Precinct — Martin Place (Sydney CBD) is Australia's most prestigious business address and the heart of the Australian financial services industry: the Reserve Bank of Australia headquarters (65 Martin Place), the Commonwealth Bank heritage building (48 Martin Place), and the Macquarie Group headquarters (1 Martin Place) together define Martin Place as the symbolic centre of Australian finance. The surrounding streets (Pitt Street, George Street, and Phillip Street) house the major Australian and international investment banks, the Big Four accounting firms, and the major national law firms (Allens, Herbert Smith Freehills, King & Wood Mallesons) in a concentrated professional services precinct of extraordinary density and quality.

Barangaroo — Barangaroo (the $6 billion harbour foreshore development on the western edge of the Sydney CBD, developed on the former Container Terminal site) has added approximately 300,000 square metres of premium commercial office space to the Sydney CBD, with Westpac Banking Corporation (275 Kent Street, Barangaroo) and HSBC (260 Queen Street, Barangaroo) among the major anchor tenants. The Barangaroo precinct has transformed the western CBD into a premium business destination.

Business Networking and Events — Sydney's business networking infrastructure includes the Sydney Chamber of Commerce, the Business Council of Australia (with significant Sydney membership), the American Chamber of Commerce in Australia (AMCHAM, Sydney), and the British Australian Chamber of Commerce, providing an extensive and internationally connected business community networking calendar.

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