In September 2007, banks in Australia held local assets of $1.9 trillion. Sydney is Australia's finance capital and is growing in importance as a regional financial hub in the Asia Pacific.

Of the 55 authorised deposit-taking banks with operations in Australia, 45 are based in Sydney. This includes 8 of the 10 foreign subsidiary banks in Australia and all of the 31 local branches of foreign banks. Major authorised foreign banks in Sydney include Citigroup, UBS Australia, Mizuho Corporate Bank, HSBC Bank Australia and Deutsche Bank. Other global banks have established highly successful back office operations in Sydney. Of the top 20 global banks, 18 have operations in Sydney. These foreign banks benefit from Sydney’s time zone advantage, spanning the close of business in the United States and the opening of the European trading day.

The 2007 Australian Financial Markets Report, published by the Australian Financial Markets Association, demonstrates the considerable depth and sophistication of Australia's financial markets. The report found that in 2006-07, total turnover across all of Australia's financial markets reached A$120 trillion, a 19.8% increase on the previous year. Turnover on the over-the-counter financial markets rose by 14.6% to A$81 trillion while exchange traded markets (equities and futures) jumped by 32.6% to A$37 trillion. This continued strong growth reinforces Australia's status as a global financial services centre, with Sydney as the epicentre.

Sydney's principal strength as a global financial services centre is its large, skilled and multilingual workforce. Sydney also offers substantial advantages in relation to costs. Salaries for skilled financial services workers are significantly lower in Sydney compared with most major Asian locations.