While the Financial Accountability Regime Bill 2023 (Cth) (Bill)is still before the Senate, APRA and ASIC (Regulators) have already released draft Regulator rules for consultation. The Regulator rules provide some guidance on what APRA considers a key function for the purposes of assigning responsibility to ‘accountable persons’. If passed by Parliament, the Bill will establish … Continue Reading
April was another fast moving month in the financial services sector. ASIC released updates to the breach reporting requirements to introduce new guidance and clarify existing guidance regarding reportable situations. The regulator also provided further communications surrounding the superannuation performance test, as well as commenced proceedings against an insurance company alleging unfair contract terms in … Continue Reading
The month March was a busy month which saw some significant developments in the financial services sector. Notably, ASIC is currently consulting on class orders about financial requirements in considering whether to remake certain class orders. The regulator is also consulting on ‘sunsetting’ class orders changing responsible entities and equal treatment. ASIC also granted conditional … Continue Reading
As 2022 came to a close, the regulators concluded the year with a busy month in December. Notably, ASIC ended the year by reminding stakeholders of the importance of ensuring that claims made in relation to a product were accurate, especially in the context of environmental claims, reflecting ASIC’s increased focus on greenwashing in 2022. … Continue Reading
On 23 May 2018 APRA announced that it would conduct a review of the superannuation prudential framework that was introduced in 2013 as part of the Stronger Super reforms.[1] The consultation is scheduled to take place over a four-month period and involve both formal and informal feedback from stakeholders across the superannuation industry. The structure … Continue Reading
It has been 3 months since Australia’s Notifiable Data Breach Scheme (NDB Scheme)[1] came into force and, already, the Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is receiving many notifications of cyber-attacks and other data breaches – both voluntarily and under the NDB Scheme. We will see even greater awareness of cybersecurity and data protection … Continue Reading
As the financial sector waits for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to fully awaken the Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR) through the provision of further guidelines, there is already a lot of chatter as to whether BEAR should be extended beyond its initial coverage of APRA-regulated Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs). The Parliamentary Joint Committee … Continue Reading
After a much long and at times unbearable wait, Federal Parliament has yesterday passed the Treasury Laws Amendment (Banking Executive Accountability and Related Measures) Bill 2018 (BEAR Legislation). The BEAR Legislation amends the Banking Act 1959 to impose accountability, remuneration and notification obligations on authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) and those in directorship and senior management … Continue Reading
The Treasurer, the Hon Scott Morrison MP, has given his Second Reading Speech in the Parliament with respect to the Treasury Laws Amendment (Banking Executive Accountability and Related Measures) Bill 2017 (BEAR Legislation) that introduces the Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR). In his speech, the Treasurer made no surprises except that his Government still intends … Continue Reading
The much anticipated Royal Commission was no surprise to the Australian banking industry. What was surprising was the extension of its terms of reference to local and foreign deposit-taking institutions, life and general insurers, superannuation funds, as well as asset managers, financial planning businesses and all other holders of Australian financial services licences. Let there … Continue Reading
APRA’s discussion paper and proposed new APS 120 provide some welcome clarification and concessions for Australian market participants. Released on Thursday 26 November 2015, the proposals will be open for comment until 1 March 2016. The proposed effective date for these rules in 1 January 2018. Amongst the more important proposals are: De-facto master trust … Continue Reading
Government releases its Response to FSI Final Report. The Australian Government has released its Response to last December’s Final Report of the Financial System Inquiry or ‘Murray Inquiry’. The Government appears to have accepted almost all of the Inquiry’s recommendations and has also proposed additional measures that are consistent with the Murray Inquiry’s underlying philosophy. … Continue Reading
On 8 July the Basel Committee (BIS) issued a paper setting out 13 corporate governance principles for banks. These principles supersede the 2010 BIS principles and are to be applied and adapted by national bank regulators as they see fit. This work has been some time in the making with a peer review conducted by … Continue Reading
On 22 June 2015, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released a letter to all Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) of general insurers, Level 2 insurance groups and life companies (collectively, the insurers) encouraging them to adopt better public disclosure practices for prudential matters. The current capital adequacy framework for insurers is based on a three … Continue Reading
On 10 June 2015, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released the final version of its Superannuation Prudential Practice Guide SPG 223 – Fraud Risk Management (SPG 223) following consultation with industry conducted in October 2014. As with other prudential practice guides released by APRA, SPG 223 is a non-binding document which sets out APRA’s … Continue Reading
With the flood of recent natural disasters, APRA has clarified the type of aggregate reinsurance arrangements that require its approval. Accordingly, it is timely for insurers to review their reinsurance arrangements to determine whether such approval is required. In recent years, Australia and New Zealand have amply demonstrated their propensity for catastrophic losses flowing from … Continue Reading
