Role of Apra free essay sample

APRA was established following the Wallis Committee’s recommendation in 1 July 1998 under Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act. In the amended Banking Act 1959(Cth), responsibility for the conduct of prudential supervision and depositor protection moves from the Reserve Bank to APRA. Its intention is to provide for a ‘more consistent, competitively neutral and efficient approach to the regulation of financial institutions, while enhancing overall depositor protection and financial system stability’1. This paper will thus find out about ARPA’s responsibilities related to banking in traditional sense of the term. First of all, a quick glance at ‘what is a bank’ should be made and it can come to surprise to find that the old Banking Act contained no definition of ‘bank’. The amended Act remedies this situation by providing more clearly the activities involved in the concept of banking business in Australia under s5 or an exemption in s7 and s112. Following this, all the references to banks have been changed to authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) which is authorised by APRA under s9 of Banking Act. We will write a custom essay sample on Role of Apra or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page Basically, key characteristics of banking in short are taking money on deposit and lending. There is no doubt that the primary responsibility of APRA is prudential supervision of financial sector which is clearly pointed under s11B Banking Act with the term ‘prudential matters’ defined in s5(1). S11AF empowers APRA to issue prudential standards for banks and bank holding companies. It also revokes a licence (s9A), issues enforceable directions should Prudential Standards be breached (s11CA) or appoints an investigator (s13A) 3. In addition, S62 Banking Act empowers APRA to obtain any information from institutions and in cases of severe financial difficulty, APRA has the power to wind up the institution and distribute its assets. More importantly, in the ‘harmonised’ prudential standards released in 1999, a capital adequacy framework and risk management were created in respond to the trend of financial convergence. Capital adequacy framework covers all types of financial risks in a single calculation methodology to determine whether an ADI has sufficient reserves to withstand a reasonable array of adverse shocks. APS 110 sets out detailed capital requirements which apply on a stand-alone as well as consolidated group basic except foreign ADIs. APRA appraises the ADI’s financial strength at three levels to ensure that the ADI is adequately capitalised. These are level 1 comprising ADI itself or the ELE, level 2-consolidated banking group and level 3-the conglomerate group4. Furthermore, consistent with Basel Capital Accord, the approach used by APRA for assessing an ADI’s capital adequacy focuses on three main elements. The definition of ‘capital base’ and eligible components are set out in APS 111-capital adequacy. A bank’s risk weighted exposures are determined in accordance with requirements and procedures in APS 112 –credit risk and APS 113- market risk5. Banks are required, unless APRA set higher levels, to maintain at level 1 and 2 as a minimum risk-weighted capital ratio of 4 % in Tier 1 and 8% for total capital at all times. APRA assess and takes into account the general risks and other circumstances relevant for the individual ADI. A ‘capital buffer’ could be added by ADI if the ADI is judged as being vulnerable more than normal volatility in its revenues and risks. In considering the required capital ratio, APRA considers all material risks, both on and off-balance sheet. Credit risks are placed into four categories which are based on the risk of counterparty default and given individual weights of 0, 20, 50 or 100%6. Furthermore, APS150 was introduced to ensure there are no unanticipated large reductions in minimum capital requirements by applying transitional capital floors for ADIs using the advanced approaches when the Basel II Framework applies. If banks fail to comply with standards on capital adequacy, APRA has the power to compel compliance by issuing directions under 11CA Banking Act. Failure to comply with a direction is a criminal offence. Concerning risk management, APS 310 requires banks to provide annually to APRA a declaration from CEO, endorsed that the board and management have identified key risks facing the bank, including liquidity (APS 210), credit quality( APS 220), large exposure( APS 221), association with related entities (APS222), outsourcing( APS 231) and business continuity management ( APS 232). APS 220 established the responsibility of an ADI’s board of directors to ensure an effective credit risk management system. Verification of the adequacy of an institution’s policies and effectiveness of implementation is undertaken in on-site prudential reviews guided by Module 8 of the APRA‘s Supervision Framework. Moreover, banks are required to report to APRA quarterly on all exposure exceeding 10% of the bank capital base which is defined as ‘large exposure’ in APS 221. Banks specifically advise APRA immediately of any violation of the limits established under paragraph 9 of APS 221. For liquidity risk, APRA required banks pursuant to APS 210 to implement a liquidity management strategy (paragraph 4). An ADI exempted from scenario analysis under paragraph 9 will be required to maintain a minimum holding of 9% of its liabilities in specified high quality liquid assets at all times (paragraph 10). In respect of risks from non-bank activities, the restrictions on exposure limits to related parties are somewhat more lenient for related non-bank regulated entities (35 percent of level 1 capital) than for unrelated non-bank entities (25 percent of capital)7. Also, APRA undertakes detailed assessments of all significant acquisitions and new business lines proposed by banks under APS 222. Another vital responsibility of APRA is protection of depositors as depositor confidence is for the benefit of the bank and banking system. S11CA Banking Act gives APRA wide powers of direction over banks when necessary to ensure compliance with its prudential standards or to protect the interest of depositors. Likewise, Division 2 empowers APRA to intervene whenever a bank’s ability to repay its depositors is threatened. S13(3) Banking Act requires a bank to notify APRA immediately if it is likely to become unable to meet its obligations or suspend payment. APRA requires that every ADI (except foreign ADI) must hold assets other than goodwill which are adequate to meet its total Australia deposit liabilities under s13A(4). However, there is no provision in either the Banking Act or APRA’s constitution which requires it to guarantee depositors’ funds and depositors have no recourse to APRA. This means that in the event of bank failure it seems very unlikely that depositors could claim against APRA for any perceived failure of APRA to carry its statutory obligations. In my opinion, regarding to assessing institutional related risks, APRA should not only use standard statistical indicators as evidence but also acknowledge ethical matters. Moreover, according to International Monetary Fund 2006, APRA should apply standards for capital requirements which constitute best international practices, including some which will be introduced for those countries implementing the Basel II framework.