Regulatory news

ASIC has opened its consultation on the Australian Banking Association’s proposed changes to its Banking Code of Practice. The Code contains a set of contractually enforceable standards that customers and small business can expect subscribing banks to uphold. The ABA plans to apply for ASIC approval of the revised Code.

ASIC will look to take strong, targeted enforcement action in the coming months and into 2024, as part of its focus on member outcomes in the superannuation sector.

The enforcement focus comes after ASIC’s enforcement and regulatory update highlighted ASIC’s work to protect consumers, including calling on banks to ensure better consumer outcomes and civil penalty action against Westpac Banking Corporation after alleged failures to address financial hardship notices.

ASIC calls on organisations to prioritise their cyber security after its report into the cyber capability of corporate Australia identified significant gaps.

The report summarises the results of ASIC’s recent cyber pulse survey. The results of the voluntary self-assessment survey have exposed deficiencies in cyber security risk management of critical cyber capabilities, indicating that organisations are reactive rather than proactive when it comes to managing their cyber security.

ASIC has taken action against H.E.S.T. Australia Limited (HESTA), the trustee of HESTA superannuation fund, for alleged false or misleading statements made in their marketing material.
HESTA paid $48,600 to comply with three infringement notices issued by ASIC regarding alleged false or misleading statements about its ‘Balanced Growth’ superannuation investment option.

ASIC has overseen more than $17.4 million in combined compensation payments to over 2,000 retail clients affected by breaches of financial services laws by eight retail OTC derivative issuers.

Coinciding with AGM season, in recent weeks financial services regulators have released their annual reports. We’ve collated them all, to make them easier for you to look up, read, and consider any points of interest for your organisation.

With spring now in full swing, here is our latest round-up of the plays regulators have been following.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has published its Annual Report for the 2022-23 financial year.

The Annual Report is available on the APRA website at: APRA Annual Reports

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has published a speech delivered by Member Suzanne Smith to the Insurance Council of Australia’s Annual Conference in Sydney.

In “Worth the risk: finding a better balance in general insurance”, Ms Smith discussed the need to keep the insurance sector strong while also finding a way to ensure cover remains accessible and affordable for the community.

Strong, sustainable insurance businesses are central to a thriving economy. Essential to this is the availability of affordable, appropriate cover to every household and business that needs protection along with confidence to take financial risks. Getting everyone on the same page and finding solutions to the myriad of issues I have outlined won’t be easy. I’m sure there will be mis-steps and we may not always agree. But if we are truly going to insure the future together, working together to leverage our strengths and harness the collective wisdom is definitely worth the risk.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has published a speech delivered by Chair John Lonsdale to the Citi Australia and New Zealand Investment Conference in Sydney.

In “Aftershock: lessons from a real-life banking stress test”, Mr Lonsdale outlined the steps APRA was taking to shore up financial system stability in response to the lessons learned from the global banking turmoil of earlier this year.