Australia's two biggest media moguls, Kerry Packer and Rupert Murdoch, are to bankroll a new investment bank that also has backing from Swiss insurer Zurich Financial Services, according to Australia's Sydney Morning Herald.

The Packer family company, Consolidated Press Holdings Investment Corporation, is to tip in $28m (A$55m) into the new venture and one of Murdoch's companies, Queensland Press, is expected to do the same.

The bank will be run by former BT investment bankers Rodney Payne and Dominic Stevens and offer products such as warrants and derivatives via the internet.