Lecture 3 Flashcards
What is the reserve bank of australia (RBA) responsible for?
- monetary policy
- systemic stability
- the payments system
What is the Australian prudential regulation authority (APRA) responsible for?
- prudential regulation
- supervision of deposit-taking institutions (including banks)
- insurance
- superannuation
What is the Australian Securities and investments commission (ASIC) responsible for?
- consumer protection
- market integrity (corporations law and FSRS licensing)
What did the Banking Act (1959) introduce?
- Banks must be authorised
- Depositors have priority on assets if a bank becomes insolvent
- Bank mergers require treasurer’s approval
What is the four pillars policy?
- Major 4 banks are not allowed to merge (CBA, ANZ, NAB & Westpac)
What did the financial sector (shareholdings) act 1998 introduce?
- maximum shareholding must be at 15% unless approved by treasurer
Why do banks need to be regulated?
- reduce systemic risk which prevents panic and bank runs due to contagion
- protect consumers and the safety of their deposits
- reduce moral hazard as banks take more risks
What is the relationship between APRA & ADI’s
- APRA can authorise ADI’s to operate
- sets prudential standards and supervisors the operations of ADI’s
- APRA can revoke licences
- if an ADI gets into financial difficulties APRA can resume control of the company
What does prudential regulation refer to?
- requirements or standards designed to limit the risk taking of banks with a view to ensuring the safety of depositors’ funds
What threatens depositors’ funds and the stability of the financial system?
If a bank becomes insolvent
risk of bank insolvency depends on what two things?
- risks impacting on a bank
- amount of bank capital
Regulators enforce what rules to keep the risk of insolvency down?
- limiting bank risks
- requiring banks to hold more capital
what is credit risk?
- the risk to payable earnings and capital that a debtor will fail to meet the terms of any contract with the bank
level of risk depends on:
- credit risk of individual transactions (e.g. credit quality)
- higher levels of portfolio diversification reduces risk
What is APS 220 credit quality?
- banks must have a credit risk management system
What does a credit risk management system include?
- well-structure credit risk grading system
- security valuation policy using net market value where possible
- approved system for setting provisions
- an approach to measuring and reporting on impaired assets
What is an impaired asset?
- items where ultimate collectability of principal and interest is compromised
what are some examples of impaired assets?
- non-accrual items
- restructured items
- other assets acquired through security enforcement
What are non-accrual items?
- payments that > 90days delinquent and security is insufficient to cover the amount due
- provisions must be made and interest and other income earned but not received may not be recognised
What are restructured items?
- facilities rendered non-commercial due to concessional contractual change related to the clients financial difficulties
- to be reclassified to non-accrual if recovery of principal or interest is in doubt or provisions have been struck
What is APS 221 large exposures?
- ADI must have an effective policy for managing large exposures and risk concentrations
Limits apply to who?
- individuals, corporations, governments
- groups of related counterparties
- industry sectors
- countries
- asset classes e.g. commercial property
what is considered a large exposure and whom must the bank reports to?
- exposure of 10% or more of the bank’s capital base
- all large exposures must be reported to APRA
what is aps 222 related entities?
- ADI’s give due consideration to the risks associated with the corporate group of which they are a member
- ADIs cannot take on excessive risk by giving either explicit or implicit guarantees to associated companies
what is aps 210 liquidity?
- this standard aims to ensure all ADIs have sufficient liquidity to meet obligations as they fall due under a wide range of operating circumstances