Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 14 of 2013

Administered by Department of the Treasury

Legislation au F2013L01116 Not in force Legislative Instrument

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Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination

No. 14 of 2013

 

Information provided by banks under certain reporting standards

 

 

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Prepared by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998 (APRA Act), s 57

The purpose of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 14 of 2013 (Determination No. 14) made on 20 June 2013 is to enable APRA to disclose certain information provided by banks to APRA under the reporting standards listed in the Appendix. Releasing this information will be of use to regulators, policymakers, industry, researchers, analysts and other interested parties.

Legislative background

Subsection 56(5C) of the APRA Act provides that it is not an offence against s 56(2) of that Act to disclose information in a reporting document given to APRA under s 13 of the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 (Collection of Data Act) where APRA has determined, under s 57, that the document does not contain confidential information.

S 57 of the APRA Act gives APRA power to determine whether a document given under s 13 of the Collection of Data Act contains confidential information.  The section provides that before doing so APRA must give relevant entities or bodies, or their representative association, a reasonable opportunity to make representations as to whether information of the kind contained in the document is confidential, and take such representations into account (the consultation undertaken is discussed below).

Information covered by the determination 

Determination No. 14 provides that information given to APRA under the reporting standards listed in the Appendix (made under s 13 of the Collection of Data Act), being information received on or after the date of APRA’s last determination under s 57 in respect of information provided under the reporting standards listed in the Appendix and prior to the date of Determination No. 14, is non-confidential.  Determination No. 14 applies to all banks that have submitted data under the reporting standards listed in Attachment A.

Consultation

In accordance with s 57, APRA issued a consultation letter to all banks on 4 July 2012, as well as providing a link to this consultation letter on its website. The consultation letter provided all affected entities an opportunity to make representations on the proposed determination of confidentiality. This consultation period ended on 31 July 2012.

There were eight responses received from entities during the consultation. Of these, four supported or had no objections to the proposed determination and four raised concerns with the proposed determination.

The support for the proposed determination noted the benefits of increased transparency of information. Also highlighted were the general benefits of more relevant and useful data collections.

The main opposition noted in the consultation submissions concerned the potential ability of a data user to assess a bank’s performance outside Australia and transactions between a bank and its clients.

APRA considers, after taking affected entities’ representations into account, that Determination No. 14 not only helps APRA fulfil its obligations to the Bank for International Settlements (BIS), the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but may also benefit regulated entities, other regulators, policymakers, the wider industry, researchers, analysts and other interested parties.

Statement of compatibility prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

A Statement of compatibility prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 is Attachment B to this Explanatory Statement.
Attachment A

 

Determination No. 14 covers the following reporting standards:

 

  • ARS 231.1a International Exposures: Locational (Assets) Part 1
  • ARS 231.1b International Exposures: Locational (Liabilities) Part 1
  • ARS 231.2 International Exposures: Locational Part 2
  • ARS 231.3a International Exposures: Consolidated (Domestic Entity)
  • ARS 231.3b International Exposures: Consolidated (Foreign Entity)


ATTACHMENT B

Statement of Compatibility with Human Rights

Prepared in accordance with Part 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination

No. 14 of 2013

 

This Legislative Instrument is compatible with the human rights and freedoms recognised or declared in the international instrument listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Overview of the Legislative Instrument

 

The purpose of making this legislative instrument is to enable APRA to publish an edition of Monthly Banking Statistics, which will contain data in respect of May 2013.

 

Human rights implications

 

APRA has assessed Determination No.14 against the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (HRPS Act) and determined that only Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) is conceivably of relevance to Determination No. 14.

Article 17 of the ICCPR prohibits the arbitrary or unlawful interference with a person’s privacy, family, home and correspondence, and attacks on reputation. Article 17 is exclusively concerned with prohibiting interference with the privacy and/or reputation of individual persons. It does not extend to the privacy and/or reputation of corporate entities.

Determination No. 14 will facilitate the disclosure of specific information provided to APRA by banks in accordance with certain reporting standards.  It does not involve the disclosure of information directly relating to individual persons. Further, APRA reviews all releases of data received under reporting standards to ensure that no information pertaining to an individual person can be deduced from the data.

Consequently, Determination No. 14 does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the HRPS Act.

 

Conclusion

 

This Legislative Instrument is compatible with human rights as it does not raise any human rights issues.

 

Overview

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 14 of 2013 was enacted to facilitate the disclosure of certain information provided by banks to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) under specific reporting standards. This legislation, enacted under the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998, aims to enhance transparency and provide valuable data to regulators, policymakers, industry, researchers, analysts, and other stakeholders. The purpose is to enable APRA to disclose information received under the reporting standards listed in the Appendix, which will be beneficial for a broad range of users who require such data for informed decision-making and regulatory compliance. APRA was mandated to consult with relevant entities before making this determination, and after considering the feedback, it concluded that the benefits of increased transparency outweigh the concerns raised. The determination ensures that the disclosed information is non-confidential and does not interfere with the privacy or reputation of individual persons, aligning with human rights standards.

Scope and Application

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 14 of 2013 pertains to the disclosure of information that banks provide to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) under specific reporting standards. This determination, made under section 57 of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998, facilitates the disclosure of non-confidential information provided by banks, thereby enhancing transparency and benefiting regulators, policymakers, industry, researchers, analysts, and other interested parties. Determination No. 14 applies to all banks that submit data under the specified reporting standards, including international exposures related to assets, liabilities, and consolidated entities. While the determination allows for the disclosure of certain information, it does not involve the release of data that could identify individual persons, thus ensuring compliance with human rights obligations. APRA ensures that all released data is reviewed to prevent any inference about individual privacy or reputation.

Key Provisions

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 14 of 2013 (Determination No. 14) primarily serves to allow the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to disclose specific information that banks provide to APRA under certain reporting standards (sections 1 and 2). These reporting standards are listed in the Appendix, and the information pertains to data received by APRA on or after the date of APRA’s last determination under section 57 in respect of information provided under these standards, and before the date of Determination No. 14. By enabling the disclosure of this information, APRA aims to facilitate the use of the data by regulators, policymakers, industry, researchers, analysts, and other interested parties (section 1). In line with section 57 of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998 (APRA Act), APRA consulted with all relevant entities before making this determination. The consultation period ran from 4 July 2012 to 31 July 2012, during which time APRA provided affected entities with an opportunity to make representations on the proposed determination (section 3). After considering the submissions received, APRA determined that the benefits of increased transparency and the availability of more relevant and useful data outweigh the concerns raised about potential assessments of a bank’s performance outside Australia and transactions between banks and their clients (section 3). APRA must ensure that any information released under this determination does not pertain to individual persons and cannot be used to deduce such information. This is consistent with the assessment that the determination does not engage any of the applicable rights or freedoms recognised or declared in the international instruments listed in section 3 of the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011 (section 4). Consequently, Determination No. 14 is considered compatible with human rights and does not raise any human rights issues. Failure to comply with the provisions of Determination No. 14 may result in legal consequences for the banks involved. However, the Explanatory Statement does not explicitly outline the specific offences, penalties, or civil/criminal consequences for breach. It is likely that any breaches of the confidentiality provisions under the APRA Act or the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 could result in penalties as prescribed by the respective Acts. In general, the APRA Act provides for penalties of up to $22,200 for individuals and $111,000 for bodies corporate for contraventions of the Act, while the Collection of Data Act imposes penalties of up to $1,650 for individuals and $8,250 for bodies corporate for non-compliance with data collection requirements.

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Sourced from the Federal Register of Legislation at 26 August 2026. For the latest information on Australian Government law please go to https://www.legislation.gov.au.