Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 3 of 2013

Administered by Department of the Treasury

Legislation au F2013L00316 Not in force Legislative Instrument

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Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination
No.3 of 2013

 

Information provided by locally-incorporated banks and foreign authorised deposit-taking institutions under Reporting Standard ARS 320.0

 

EXPLANATORY STATEMENT

Prepared by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA)

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

 

Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No.3 of 2013 (the Determination), made on 21 February 2013 is APRA’s one hundred and eighth determination under section 57 of the APRA Act in relation to information provided under Reporting Standard ARS 320.0 Statement of Financial Position (Domestic Books) (ARS 320.0), taking into account both current and preceding versions of this reporting standard. The purpose of the Determination is to enable APRA to publish an edition of Monthly Banking Statistics, which will contain data in respect of January 2013.

Legislative background

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

Section 57 of the APRA Act gives APRA power to determine whether a document given under section 13 of the FSCOD 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 (consultation undertaken is discussed below).

Information covered by the determination

The Determination provides that certain information given to APRA under ARS 320.0 (made by Financial Sector (Collection of Data) (reporting standard) determination No. 30 of 2008), or another reporting standard in substantially the same form replacing it, being information received on or after the date of APRA’s last determination under section 57 in respect of information provided under ARS 320.0 and before the date of the Determination, is non-confidential. It applies to information given to APRA by foreign Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs) and locally-incorporated banks.

The Determination excludes information of a sensitive nature, including information relating to shareholder’s equity, total income tax liability and total provisions. The latter two items were excluded as a result of consultations with industry under section 57 of the APRA Act (see below).

Items that will be disclosed (and which are covered by the Determination) are set out in the Appendix to this Explanatory Statement.

 

Consultation

 

APRA commenced consultations in relation to whether information of the kind covered by the Determination should be treated as non-confidential by writing to locally-incorporated banks, foreign ADIs, and their respective representative bodies, on 24 December 2003. Most agreed that information of the kind covered by the Determination could be treated as non-confidential. A small minority objected to the publication of any information from ARS 320.0, but in APRA’s view there is a strong public interest in the publication of the information, and it is noted that similar information was regularly published under the former section 51 of the Banking Act 1959.

 

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

 

The legislative instrument the subject of this explanatory statement 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. Accordingly, in APRA’s assessment, this legislative instrument is compatible with human rights.

 


Appendix

 

Items to be published in the Monthly Banking Statistics publication 

 

Table 1: Selected Assets on Australian Books of Individual Banks 

 Cash and liquid assets

 Trading securities

 Investment securities

 Acceptances of customers

 Gross loans and advances

 Other investments

 Total resident assets

 Outstanding principal balance of securitised assets

 Value of housing loans securitised

 

Table 2: Loans and Advances on Australian Books of Individual Banks 

 Loans to non-financial corporations

 Loans to financial corporations

 Loans to general government

 Housing loans - owner-occupied

 Housing loans - investment

 Household credit cards

 Other household loans

 Loans to community service organisations and non-profit institutions

 Total gross loans and advances

 Intra-group loans and advances

 

Table 3: Selected Liabilities on Australian Books of Individual Banks 

 Due to clearing houses and financial institutions

 Acceptances

 Total deposits

 Intra-group deposits

 Bonds, notes and long-term borrowings

 Other borrowings

 

Table 4: Deposits on Australian Books of Individual Banks 

 Deposits from non-financial corporations

 Deposits from financial corporations

 Deposits from general government

 Deposits from households

 Deposits from community service organisations and non-profit institutions

 Other deposit accounts

 Certificates of deposit

 Total deposits

 

 

 

Overview

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No.3 of 2013 was enacted under section 57 of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998. This determination, made on 21 February 2013, aimed to address the need for APRA to publish an edition of Monthly Banking Statistics containing data from January 2013, specifically focusing on information provided by locally-incorporated banks and foreign authorised deposit-taking institutions under Reporting Standard ARS 320.0. The enactment of this determination was overseen by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, which consulted with relevant entities, including locally-incorporated banks and foreign ADIs, to consider whether the information provided under ARS 320.0 could be treated as non-confidential. The policy objective was to balance the disclosure of non-confidential financial data for public interest and transparency, while excluding sensitive information such as shareholder’s equity, total income tax liability, and total provisions. The determination ensures that the published information does not infringe on human rights as it is compatible with the Human Rights (Parliamentary Scrutiny) Act 2011.

Scope and Application

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No.3 of 2013 applies to information provided by locally-incorporated banks and foreign authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) under the reporting standard ARS 320.0. The determination is made under section 57 of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998 and applies to information provided to APRA, specifically targeting financial data related to Statement of Financial Position (Domestic Books). The purpose of this determination is to allow APRA to publish certain data in the Monthly Banking Statistics, specifically for January 2013. The determination ensures that specific sensitive information such as shareholder’s equity, total income tax liability, and total provisions are excluded from the non-confidential data. This determination ensures that the public interest in financial transparency is balanced with the need to protect sensitive financial information. APRA consulted with the relevant entities and their representative associations before making this determination, ensuring a balanced approach to financial disclosure.

Key Provisions

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) (confidentiality) determination No.3 of 2013 (the Determination) (sections 1-2) outlines the conditions under which certain financial information provided by locally-incorporated banks and foreign authorised deposit-taking institutions (ADIs) can be disclosed by APRA. Specifically, the Determination provides that certain information given to APRA under the Reporting Standard ARS 320.0 (Statement of Financial Position (Domestic Books)) is non-confidential and can be disclosed in APRA’s Monthly Banking Statistics publication. This includes data from January 2013. The information that can be disclosed is specified in the appendix to the explanatory statement and includes various asset and liability items such as cash and liquid assets, loans, and deposits. However, sensitive information such as shareholder’s equity, total income tax liability, and total provisions is excluded. The Determination imposes obligations on both locally-incorporated banks and foreign ADIs to provide specified financial information to APRA in a timely manner (section 3). APRA is required to give these entities and their representative associations a reasonable opportunity to make representations on whether the information is confidential, and APRA must take these representations into account before making a determination (section 4). The Determination also reflects the outcome of consultations with the industry, which largely supported the non-confidential treatment of the specified information (section 5). There are no direct offences, penalties, or civil/criminal consequences specified in the Determination for the failure to comply with the requirements of the Determination. However, the underlying legislation, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998 (APRA Act), contains provisions for breaches of confidentiality obligations, which could result in penalties. Under section 56(2) of the APRA Act, disclosing information that APRA has determined to be confidential is an offence, with potential penalties including fines of up to $100,000 for individuals and $500,000 for bodies corporate, or both imprisonment and fines. The Determination, by clarifying what information is non-confidential, aims to mitigate these risks by ensuring that only non-confidential information is published.

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