Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 5 of 2008

Overview

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No. 5 of 2008, issued under the authority of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), aims to address the need for transparency in banking statistics while safeguarding sensitive information. This Determination, enacted under section 57 of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998, allows APRA to publish certain financial data from locally-incorporated banks and foreign authorised deposit-taking institutions in its Monthly Banking Statistics edition for March 2008. This legislative instrument facilitates the disclosure of non-confidential information, subject to consultation with relevant entities, to support informed public and policy decisions without compromising sensitive financial details.

Scope and Application

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (confidentiality) determination No.5 of 2008 applies to information provided by locally-incorporated banks and foreign authorised deposit-taking institutions under Reporting Standard ARS 320.0. This Determination, made by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) under section 57 of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998, aims to enable APRA to publish an edition of Monthly Banking Statistics containing data for March 2008. The Determination applies to information provided to APRA under ARS 320.0, which was made under section 13 of the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 by Financial Sector (Collection of Data) determination No. 37 of 2005. The information pertains to data received by APRA on or after the date of APRA’s last determination under section 57 and before the date of this one. The Determination excludes sensitive information, such as details relating to shareholder's equity, total income tax liability, and total provisions, as determined through consultations with the industry under section 57 of the APRA Act. The Determination further specifies the types of data that will be disclosed in the Monthly Banking Statistics publication, including selected assets, loans and advances, and liabilities on Australian books of individual banks, as well as deposits on Australian books of individual banks.

Key Provisions

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) issued the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (Confidentiality) Determination No. 5 of 2008 (the Determination) under section 57 of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority Act 1998 (APRA Act). This Determination is APRA’s forty-sixth determination in relation to the information provided under Reporting Standard ARS 320.0 (2005) Statement of Financial Position (Domestic Books) (ARS 320.0) (and its predecessor reporting standards) under section 57 of the APRA Act (section 57). The primary purpose of this Determination is to enable APRA to publish an edition of Monthly Banking Statistics containing data in respect of March 2008 (section 57). The Determination provides that certain information given to APRA under ARS 320.0, made under section 13 of the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 by Financial Sector (Collection of Data) determination No. 37 of 2005, is non-confidential. This applies to information received on or after the date of APRA’s last determination under section 57 and before the date of this one. The Determination excludes information of a sensitive nature, including information relating to shareholder’s equity, total income tax liability, and total provisions. Items that will be disclosed and are covered by the Determination are set out in the Appendix to this Explanatory Statement. The Determination imposes several obligations and requirements on the parties or entities it governs. Firstly, APRA is mandated to 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 to take such representations into account (section 57). Secondly, before making the Determination, APRA must consult with locally-incorporated banks, foreign Authorised Deposit-taking Institutions (ADIs), and their respective representative bodies regarding the disclosure of information (section 57). The majority of these entities agreed that the information could be treated as non-confidential, while a minority objected to the publication of any information from ARS 320.0. However, APRA concluded that there is a strong public interest in the publication of this information, and it is noted that similar information was regularly published under the former section 51 of the Banking Act 1959. Breaching the provisions of the Determination may result in certain consequences. 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 where APRA has determined, under section 57, that the document does not contain confidential information. This means that while disclosing information that APRA has determined to be non-confidential is not an offence, any breach of the Determination’s provisions may still result in civil or criminal consequences as per the APRA Act. The exact penalties for breach are not specified in the Determination but can be found within the APRA Act.