25 March 2024 - APRA publishes Member Therese McCarthy Hockey’s remarks to COBA CEO and Director Forum

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has published remarks delivered by Member Therese McCarthy Hockey to the Customer Owned Banking Association CEO and Director Forum in Sydney.

In her opening remarks ahead of taking questions, Ms McCarthy Hockey outlined the steps APRA is taking to minimise regulatory burden and enhance the proportionality of its prudential framework while also ensuring banks are prepared to respond to risks.

Her comments included:

• “At a time when the global financial system is evolving rapidly, the array of risks banks need to identify and manage is growing in both scope and severity. This time last year, we saw a banking crisis in the United States emerge and spread internationally with unprecedented speed, facilitated by social media and online banking.”
• “Enhancing the proportionality of the framework isn’t the only way we’ve sought to reduce the regulatory burden. As part of our corporate planning process in 2021, we also set about looking at our prudential rule book and considering whether it remained fit for purpose.”
• “We will continue to evolve our approach and prudential framework in response to new risks and changes in the operating environment. Your challenge as mutual banks is much the same: to understand the risks to your businesses from factors such as new rivals, technological innovation and evolving consumer preferences – and make sure you are equipped to respond.”