In opening remarks to FINSIA’s The Regulators, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) set out how its latest Corporate Plan applies “proportionality” to balance its primary prudential mandate with productivity and efficiency considerations, while maintaining core safety settings. The speech highlighted recent burden-reduction steps including reducing policy consultations by more than half, ceasing multiple data collections, streamlining reporting requirements and modernising the prudential framework. It also flagged a stepped-up focus on cyber security, noting that CPS 234 Information Security sets binding requirements for banks, insurers and super trustees. As part of the Council of Financial Regulators review of small and medium-sized banks (undertaken with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission), APRA committed to simplify the bank licensing regime with the aim of halving licensing timelines, provide greater clarity on supervisory expectations for capital requirements linked to specific risks and how banks can lower them, and introduce a third tier to its proportionality framework for banks with a potential fourth tier for the very smallest banks contingent on APRA being granted stronger resolution powers for that cohort.
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority 2025-09-12
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority outlines corporate plan measures to ease burden on smaller banks including halving licensing time
APRA's Corporate Plan, presented at FINSIA’s The Regulators, emphasizes "proportionality" to balance prudential mandates with efficiency. APRA has reduced policy consultations, ceased some data collections, streamlined reporting, and modernized its framework. Key focuses include cyber security with CPS 234, simplifying bank licensing, halving timelines, clarifying capital requirements, and potentially adding tiers for smaller banks.