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APRA

This Month

APRA chairman John Lonsdale has called an end to hybrid securities, despite warnings it could lead investors into riskier products.

Asset managers see opportunities in APRA’s bank hybrid ban

Investors will have to find somewhere to park $43 billion in capital after the prudential regulator decided to phrase them out. Some firms see their chance.

  • Lucas Baird
1 Martin Place

Metrics to call Martin Place home amid private credit boom

One of Australia’s largest non-bank lenders will swap a heritage-listed boutique office in North Sydney for a place in the Sydney CBD.

  • Campbell Kwan
ATO boss Rob Heferen would be empowered to share taxpayer information more broadly, under new Treasury proposals.

Government floats loosening ATO secrecy on money-laundering, takeovers

The proposals are the latest in the government’s ongoing response to the PwC tax leaks scandal.

  • Maxim Shanahan
Liberal Senator Andrew Bragg.

Prudential watchdog must release secret Cbus review: advice

New advice from the clerk of the Senate argues APRA has no grounds to keep the critical review secret from parliament.

  • Lucas Baird

December 2024

About 1 in every 10 loans is going to a first home buyer, Australia’s biggest banks have revealed.

What the average first home buyer looks like (according to the banks)

The country’s biggest lenders have offered a glimpse into their lending habits in the midst of a debate over whether to ease rules for younger borrowers.

  • Lucas Baird
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A Westpac whistleblower claims she raised more than a dozen complaints internally about suspected fraud and criminal activity at mortgage broking subsidiary RAMS.

Troubled RAMS trips to $18.6m loss

Westpac had earlier in the year failed to find a buyer for the business, which is involved in two court cases alleging fraud.

  • Lucas Baird
The focus on unlisted assets in super has been growing in recent years.

Super’s $500b unlisted asset problem isn’t going away

APRA has found another area where near enough just isn’t good enough for Australia’s large and systemically important super sector. 

  • James Thomson
Office towers are plummeting in value, but APRA says super funds are falling short on repricing their assets.

Super boards, executives failing on unlisted asset valuations

The regulator demanded funds sharpen their review processes, warning it will not hesitate to take further action and may pursue individuals.

  • Hannah Wootton
Access to housing will be one of the big issues during the federal election campaign next year.

Barrenjoey stokes political debate over APRA’s home-lending policy

The investment bank says a Coalition-led Senate committee report last month – challenging the prudential regulator on first home buyers – “appears logical”.

  • James Eyers

Think of the children, Rupert

Readers’ letters on APRA’s move against the bank hybrid market; the Albanese government’s response to antisemitic attacks; the CSIRO and the nuclear debate; the fight within Rupert Murdoch’s family.

ANZ chief executive Shayne Elliott.

AGM strike threat looms for ANZ over CEO Elliott’s pay

The bank’s board is grappling with an investor revolt over executive remuneration due to a lack of “genuine accountability” following the bond scandal.

  • Lucas Baird
APRA chairman John Lonsdale has called time on popular bank hybrids.

APRA winds down $43b bank hybrid market, angering investors

The prudential regulator says other forms of capital are safer and make it easier for issuers to respond to future crises without bailing in retail investors.

  • Updated
  • John Kehoe and Jonathan Shapiro

How many can you name? The 30 public servants earning more than $1m

Executives from NBN Co, Australia Post and Snowy Hydro topped the latest leaderboard for public service and government-owned business pay packets.

  • Tom McIlroy
David Murray at the Centre for Independent Studies in Sydney on Tuesday.

Architect of Murray inquiry says banks can be agents of growth

David Murray is still railing against a “one-size-fits-all approach” to governance, which he says has forced banks to drop gas clients and let private credit sneak in.

  • James Eyers
Cbus chairman Wayne Swan is sure the fund’s expenditures are value for money. Deloitte isn’t.

Wayne Swan’s Cbus testimony an unexploded bomb

A discrepancy has now emerged between Wayne Swan’s (very) recent Senate testimony and the findings of a review dated two days before his appearance.

  • Myriam Robin
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Cbus has become the poster child for industry super’s woes.

How Cbus’ big party year went horribly wrong

It’s not the biggest or the worst performing of the super funds. So why has Cbus become the poster child for the $4 trillion sector’s problems?

  • Hannah Wootton
APRA chairman John Lonsdale.

D-day for bank hybrids draws a line under divisive APRA process

The prudential regulator is due to give the market an update on whether it will kill bank hybrids. Some people wonder whether it has gone too far.

  • Jonathan Shapiro

Super funds should be governed like banks

Wayne Swan’s defence of the appointment of CFMEU-linked trustees to the Cbus board shows why APRA should be able to remove directors who do not meet the criteria.

  • Helen Bird

November 2024

IAG CEO Nick Hawkins is defending $7 billion in insurance claims but still making acquisitions

IAG didn’t register Greensill Capital insurer with ASIC: court claim

Greensill Capital’s key insurance agency did not have approval from regulators to act as an insurer when it was half-owned by $20 billion group IAG, new court documents allege.

  • Jenny Wiggins
You tell me what the cash flows of a toll road are going to be for the next 50 years.

Unlisted assets mask awkward questions about super governance

We need to be sure that on valuations, trustees are not conducting some tick-a-box exercise and playing with the retirement savings of members.

  • Richard Holden

Original URL: https://www.afr.com/topic/australian-prudential-regulation-authority-jl7