
24 July 2025
The ABA welcomes APRA’s commitment to boosting competition for Australia’s mid-tier and international banks.
In a speech today to the ABA’s Banking 2025 Conference, Chair John Lonsdale announced that APRA would:
- Formalise a three-tiered approach to proportionality in the framework for banking
- Streamline, simplify and clarify accreditation processes allowing banks to use the internal-ratings based approach to calculating risk-weighted assets
- Better communicate decisions on minimum capital requirements
- Amend the bank licensing framework to improve transparency and efficiency.
ABA CEO Anna Bligh said it was customers who would ultimately benefit from a strong and competitive banking system.
“Today’s announcements from APRA will support Australia’s mid-tier and international banks to offer more competitive services for customers,” Ms Bligh said.
“These commitments will not reduce consumer protections, they are about making sure our smaller banks can focus on delivering better products and services to their customers.
“Having strong small and medium-sized banks in Australia is important for competition and customer choice.
“Our industry thanks APRA and the Council of Financial Regulators for their engagement throughout the review into small and medium-sized banks. “Banks stand ready to work with APRA to ensure these commitments are implemented effectively.”
Latest news
The ABA welcomes the passage through the House of critical legislation to ensure Australia’s payments regulatory framework is brought up-to-date and urges the Senate to quickly pass this overdue legislation too. The proposed legislation will bring digital wallets, cash distribution services, buy now, pay later schemes and other emerging payment methods within regulatory oversight, significantly… Read more »
With the AFL and NRL finals about to kick off and demand for tickets set to surge, the Australian Banking Association is warning footy fans to be on the lookout for scammers. The ABA is issuing this warning during Scams Awareness Week and as tickets for the AFL finals go on sale from today. … Read more »
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) has welcomed today’s announcement from the Federal Government to bring forward the start of the Home Guarantee Scheme. Under the Guarantee, eligible first home buyers are able to purchase a home with a smaller deposit and avoid paying lenders’ mortgage insurance. ABA CEO Simon Birmingham said it made sense to… Read more »