Our latest insights

APRA has released its Corporate Plan 2023-24 with a focus on resilience following the global banking upheaval earlier this year with the collapse of SVB and Credit Suisse takeover.

This week, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) finalised new requirements to Prudential Standard CPS 511 Remuneration, which will significantly impact authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs), insurers, and superannuation entities. This new standard requires APRA-regulated entities to publish details around their remuneration frameworks, design, governance, and outcomes. These changes come in an effort to create more transparency and improve risk management, in particular in the context of the poorly designed and executed remuneration frameworks exposed through the financial services Royal Commission.

APRA-regulated businesses operating in the banking, insurance, and superannuation industries will soon be faced with significant regulatory changes. APRA and the ASIC have commenced early consultation around the introduction of the Financial Accountability Regime, which aims to establish a strong accountability framework to enhance risk management and governance practices in the financial sector.

APRA has released the long-awaited findings from its independent tripartite cyber assessment over compliance with CPS 234. The themes identified by APRA are based on the audit of more than 300 banks, insurers and superannuation trustees – a significant industry wide program.

With growing business appetite for innovative financial technology and on-demand finance in recent years, Fintechs have been embraced by businesses and consumers alike. Fintechs now have the opportunity to drive change, expand into other industries – and sometimes even scale up and expand into new markets. As we near business planning season and end of financial year, have you considered how R&D Incentives, tax considerations and a governance structure can support your sustainable growth?

Authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) and the broader banking sector have recently faced significant headwinds, as the sector navigates unprecedented change. How can you best navigate current challenges and leverage opportunities to find efficiencies as you step into the new financial year? Here, we outline eight key considerations you should address to ensure your business is set up for FY24.

CPS 230 requires regulated entities to consider service disruption from a different perspective. Working backwards through a scenario, entities must identify the harm that a disruption may cause to its customers or the broader financial system, then take active measures to prevent it (operational risk) and recover from it (operational resilience).

In light of the new penalties and expansion of the unfair contract terms laws, now is the perfect time to review your Gift Card* terms and conditions and ensure they meet all the regulation requirements.

On 10 November, APRA released their insights from their latest risk culture survey in an Insight, “No room for complacency on bank risk culture”. This survey was rolled out to 18 ADIs in late 2021. APRA’s analysis included matters for ADIs to consider, however in our experience these could equally be applied to insurers and Registerable Superannuation Entity Licences (RSELs).

One of the most common ways of managing operational risk is through a system of effective internal controls. Control failures however can lead to events as varied as mis-selling, data breaches and underpayments – as such in APRA's Prudential Standard CPS 230 they have strengthened the focus on operational risk management. In this second series of our CPS 230 technical guides we provide an overview of some necessary elements to achieve strong operational risk management and why it is the foundation of operational resilience.

Last week the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released the key observations from its thematic review of related party outsourcing arrangements across a sample of 10 retail superannuation trustees with outsourcing contracts worth a combined $1.2 billion annually.

The RBA recently released its study into the developments in cost of card payments for merchants. The study highlights the action needed by both the RBA and the wider payments sector to strengthen competition and help reduce the cost of accepting card payments. Key themes include higher fees for smaller merchants, eftpos as the cheaper alternative, debit not credit and least-cost routing.