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29-451: Prudential Regulatory Authority or Prudential Regulation Authority may refer to: Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Prudential Regulation Authority (United Kingdom) Topics referred to by the same term [REDACTED] This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Prudential Regulation Authority . If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change

58-634: A 24/7 basis. Each payment message is capable of carrying much richer remittance information than other systems. The NPP infrastructure supports the independent development of ‘overlay’ services to offer innovative payment services to end-users. Regulation of the financial system in Australia is split mainly between the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) and Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA). ASIC has responsibility for market integrity and consumer protection and

87-521: Is Australia’s currency and legal tender in Australia . Clearing and settling of cash payments (also called CS5) are regulated by AusPayNet as the Australian Cash Distribution Exchange System (ACDES). Cheques are still the most important non-cash payment instruments in Australia, in terms of the value transferred. The number of monthly cheque transactions in 2008 was 33.7 million with a value of $ 139.3 billion. Cheque use

116-840: Is a statutory authority of the Australian Government and the prudential regulator of the Australian financial services industry. APRA was established on 1 July 1998 in response to the recommendations of the Wallis Inquiry. APRA's authority and scope is determined pursuant to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act, 1998 (Cth). APRA was established on 1 July 1998. It oversees banks, credit unions , building societies , friendly societies , general insurance , health insurance , reinsurance , and life insurance companies, and most members of

145-485: Is dominated by what are known as the "big four", which are also referred to as the pillars of Australia's financial system: There are several smaller banks with a presence throughout the country, and a large number of other financial institutions, such as credit unions . Many large foreign banks have a presence, but few have a retail banking presence. The central bank is the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA). Since 2008

174-486: Is government-supported and encouraged, and minimum provisions are compulsory for employees. Superannuation arrangements are provided by banks and insurance companies, though most funds are self-managed. Superannuation funds are tightly regulated. There are several payment systems in use within Australia, many of which are regulated by Australian Payments Network (AusPayNet) (previously called Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA)), including: The Australian dollar

203-494: Is in decline worldwide, but it is declining faster in Australia than many other countries. Between 2010 and 2014, cheque use in Australia declined by 42.8% with just over seven cheques written per person in 2014. In 2014, 166.6 million cheques were used in Australia, compared to 291.1 million in 2010. In 2015, cheque usage fell by a further 16.3%. Cheques and other payment instruments (such as travellers cheques and warrants) (also called CS1) are cleared and settled in accordance with

232-543: Is no longer in use. BPAY is a bill payment system used in Australia, which is regulated by the four major banks and not by AusPayNet. As of January 2015, the BPAY payments system covered more than 156 participating Australian banks, credit unions and financial institutions. More than 45,000 businesses accept payments using BPAY and each month approximately 30 million bills are paid to the value of $ 24 billion. High value payments (also known as CS4) are regulated by AusPayNet under

261-631: The Basel II guidelines. All financial institutions regulated by APRA are required to report on a periodic basis to APRA. Certain financial intermediaries, such as investment banks (which do not otherwise operate as ADIs) are neither licensed nor regulated under the Banking Act and are not subject to the prudential supervision of APRA. They may be required to obtain licences under the Corporations Act 2001 or other Commonwealth or state legislation, depending on

290-411: The superannuation industry . It ensures that these institutions keep their financial promises; that is, that they will remain financially sound and able to meet their obligations to depositors, fund members and policy holders. APRA currently supervises institutions holding A$ 8.6 trillion in assets for Australian depositors, policyholders and superannuation fund members. APRA is largely funded by levies on

319-768: The Australian financial market are the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) and the smaller National Stock Exchange of Australia (NSX), both of which provide stock exchange facilities for Australian listed securities. NSX acquired the Bendigo Stock Exchange in June 2012 and merged its operations. Most foreign exchange transactions are largely free from regulation, and the Reserve Bank of Australia has largely delegated its control to authorised money market dealers and foreign exchange dealers. Participants in

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348-595: The Australian government has guaranteed deposits up to $ 250,000 per customer per institution against banking failure. Australia's insurance market can be divided into roughly three components: life insurance , general insurance and health insurance . These markets have been fairly distinct, with most larger insurers focusing on only one type. However, in recent times several insurance companies have broadened their scope into more general financial services, and have faced competition from banks and subsidiaries of foreign financial conglomerates. Superannuation in Australia

377-464: The Regulations for High Value Clearing System Framework. The main high value payment systems in Australia are: The New Payments Platform (NPP) is open access infrastructure for fast payments in Australia. The NPP was developed via industry collaboration to enable households, businesses and government agencies to make simply addressed payments, with near real-time funds availability to the recipient, on

406-714: The day. Net positions are usually cleared daily. EFTPOS (Electronic Fund Transfer Point of Sale) and ATM transactions (also called CS3) occur over the EFT network. Clearing and settling of EFTPOS and ATM transactions are regulated by the AusPayNet as the Consumer Electronic Clearing System (CECS). Between 2005 and 2015, ATM withdrawals dropped by 11.5% but increased 5.1% in value. Several credit card systems are active in Australia including MasterCard , Visa , Diners Club and American Express . The Bankcard scheme

435-426: The financial institutions that it supervises. APRA is governed by an Executive Group, usually consisting of four people. All are statutory appointees. The current chair of APRA is John Lonsdale. Helen Rowell and Margaret Cole are Deputy Chairs. Suzanne Smith and Therese McCarthy Hockey are additional APRA Members. The Insurance and Superannuation Commission (ISC) was formally established on 23 November 1987, following

464-426: The financial system consist of commercial banks , investment banks , finance companies , building or cooperative societies , credit unions , friendly societies , non bank financial institutions (NBFI) , superannuation and approved deposit funds , public unit trusts , cash management trusts , mortgage originators , insurance companies, institutional funds investing in and financing debt. Banking in Australia

493-472: The link to point directly to the intended article. Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Prudential_Regulation_Authority&oldid=933066620 " Category : Disambiguation pages Hidden categories: Short description is different from Wikidata All article disambiguation pages All disambiguation pages Australian Prudential Regulation Authority The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority ( APRA )

522-467: The nature of their business activities in Australia. Most investment banks are registered under the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 . This Act requires registered financial corporations to provide statistical information to APRA. The Reserve Bank of Australia is the country's central bank , with responsibility for most payment systems and setting of monetary policy . Since 1996

551-563: The old system. Direct entry (also called CS2) can be used to transfer funds between bank accounts in Australia. Clearing and settling is regulated by AusPayNet as the Bulk Electronic Clearing System (BECS). Direct entry uses the BSB and account number to identify the bank and accounts to debit and credit. Some common uses of the direct entry system include: Participants of BECS exchange direct entry (DE) files at intervals through

580-724: The previous role of the Private Health Insurance Administration Council in July 2015. In 2018, Peter Harris , the chair of the Productivity Commission , was critical of the role of APRA in limiting price competition in banking. Representatives of APRA appeared before the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry during 2018. In 2018, APRA created

609-865: The proclamation of the Insurance and Superannuation Commissioner Act 1987. It was constructed from the Superannuation Division of Treasury, The Office of the General Insurance Commissioner, The Office of Life Insurance Commissioner, and The Office of the Australian Government Actuary. The commission was based at the Australian Automobile Association Building, Canberra and also had offices in Melbourne and Sydney. The Insurance and Superannuation Commission

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638-719: The regulation of certain financial institutions (including investment banks and finance companies or NBFI). The general regulatory position is that a legal person carrying on a financial services business in Australia must either hold an Australian financial services licence issued to that person by ASIC or fall within a licensing exemption. APRA is responsible for the licensing and prudential supervision of ADIs (banks, building societies, credit unions, friendly societies and participants in certain credit card schemes and certain purchaser payment facilities), life and general insurance companies and superannuation funds. APRA has issued capital adequacy guidelines for banks which are consistent with

667-542: The regulations and procedures set by APCS. Cheques use MICR encoding containing the BSB and account number to identify the bank and account to debit, as well as other information to streamline the processing of cheques. In 2014, the cost of processing cheques was the highest of all modes of payments at $ 5 per transaction, compared to about $ 0.20 for direct debits. A recent innovation has been digital cheque imaging, which involves images of cheques being captured by financial institutions and exchanged electronically between

696-404: The relevant financial institutions rather than the previous costly practice of physically transporting paper cheques around Australia. This has also ended the need for maintaining long-term storage and retrieval systems. The new system speeds up the clearing process, with cheques being able to be cleared at the end of the next weekday after being presented, as opposed to up to the six weekdays under

725-793: The restricted authorised deposit-taking institution (RADI) licensing framework to encourage new entrants and competition to the existing banking system. APRA establishes prudential standards with which regulated institutions must comply. It also creates and maintains Prudential Practice Guides (PPGs) to provide guidance on APRA's view of "sound practice" in particular areas for specific industries, as well as areas common to most APRA-regulated entities ("cross-industry guides"). PPGs frequently discuss statutory requirements from legislation, regulations or APRA's prudential standards, but do not themselves create enforceable requirements. Financial system in Australia The main stock exchange operators in

754-550: The time, the regulators of the Australian financial services industry were based on the institutions and not the regulatory function. APRA's predecessor regulators were the Insurance and Superannuation Commission, the Reserve Bank of Australia and the Australian Financial Institutions Commission (AFIC). The Wallis Inquiry recommended a new structure. The role of the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA)

783-780: Was absorbed into the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority on 1 July 1998. In June 1996, the Financial System Inquiry (known as the Wallis Inquiry) was established to examine the results of the deregulation of the Australian financial system, to examine the forces driving further change, particularly technological, and recommend changes to the regulatory system to ensure an "efficient, responsive, competitive and flexible financial system to underpin stronger economic performance, consistent with financial stability, prudence, integrity and fairness." At

812-604: Was amended to deal with monetary policy and systemic stability with the Payments System Board considering payments systems regulation. The role of the Australian Prudential Regulation Commission (later to become APRA) was amended to deal with prudential regulation of authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs), life and general insurance, and superannuation including Industry superannuation . The Corporations and Financial Services Commission

841-607: Was renamed and its role expanded as the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) to deal with market integrity, consumer protection and corporations. APRA was established on 1 July 1998 under the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998 . APRA became prominent in the collapse of HIH Insurance in 2001 and for its investigation into the National Australia Bank foreign currency deal scandal in 2004. APRA took over

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