Organisation

Centre for International Finance and Regulation

Owning Institution:

University of New South Wales

Macquarie University

University of Technology Sydney

Government of Australia

Government of New South Wales

University of Sydney

University of Melbourne

Australian National University

The Centre for International Finance and Regulation (CIFR) was a Centre of Excellence operating from 2011 to 2016 to address fundamental issues affecting the Australian financial industry. CIFR’s mission was to promote financial sector vibrancy, resilience and integrity, supporting Australia as a regional financial centre through leading research and education on systemic risk, market and regulatory performance and financial market developments. CIFR funded 71 research projects, involving well over 100 researchers from domestic and international universities.

For Australia’s financial industry, CIFR provided a strategic link between academia, policy-makers, regulators and other industry participants. Now closed, the Centre's output of 148 papers are all available at this publisher page.

Video

CIFR Seminar - Blockchains and the Future of Finance

4 Aug 2016

Centre for International Finance and Regulation

This video outlines why the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) is presently studying whether to convert the exchange to blockchain technology.

Working paper

Superannuation fees and asset allocation

26 Jul 2016

Centre for International Finance and Regulation

There is considerable debate about the size of fees charged by superannuation funds. This paper investigates both investment fees and administration fees and shows that there are economically valid reasons why most investment fees are set at their current level. Our results show that on average, retail funds are charging both higher investment fees and...

Working paper

Superannuation fund performance and fund fees

20 Jul 2016

Centre for International Finance and Regulation

Using a comprehensive dataset of Australian superannuation funds, we examine the relationship between investment fees and fund performance. We find that the most expensive funds produce significantly higher after-fee raw returns than the cheapest funds. The findings suggest that retirement balances will not be worse off if superannuation investors are to hold the more expensive...

Submission

CIFR submission to the Productivity Commission: data availability and use

8 Jul 2016

Centre for International Finance and Regulation

CIFR congratulates the Federal Government on initiating the Productivity Commission inquiry into the availability and use of public and private sector data by individuals and organisations in Australia. CIFR’s submission is authored by Dr Kingsley Jones, a CIFR Research Fellow, and an expert in this domain.

Working paper

Heterogeneity in the effects of algorithmic and high-frequency traders on institutional transaction costs

7 Jul 2016

Talis J. Putnins,

Joseph Barbara

Centre for International Finance and Regulation

The net effects of algorithmic and high-frequency traders mask considerable heterogeneity in how they impact institutional transaction costs. The paper finds that fast traders and those with high order-to-trade ratios are no more likely to increase costs than others. Traders that increase costs are more active in small stocks.