Consultation Paper – Electronic Creation and Execution of Documents
2 June 2023
The ABA Submission is supportive of the Landgate’s efforts to enable the creation and execution of documents in electronic form. The ABA provides answers to the specific questions in the Landgate consultation paper.
Download PDFABA submission on APRA Interest Rate Risk in the Banking Book workshop
2 June 2023
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) welcomes Australia Prudential Regulation Authority’s (APRA) ongoing and constructive engagement, and the opportunity to respond to the policy options on the revised draft Prudential Standard APS 117 Capital Adequacy: Interest Rate Risk in the Banking Book (APS 117), which were presented to industry on 18 May 2023.
Download PDFTreasury Laws Amendment (2023 Measures No. 1) Bill 2023 – Franked distributions funded by capital raisings
2 May 2023
The ABA submission to the Senate Economic Committee, the submission addresses the importance of certainty regarding capital raises and distributions to banks.
Download PDFHEC Inquiry Economic Dynamism
20 April 2023
Australian banks operate in a competitive and dynamic environment. They compete with each other and with other financial service providers, including tech companies, to provide products and services to consumers. Given the pace of technological change and transformation, banks are constantly innovating their customer offerings and processes to remain competitive. To compete effectively, banks continually adapt to respond to customer needs and preferences. As such, banks have, over the past several decades, become increasingly digital.
Download PDFEmployment White Paper Consultation
13 April 2023
This submission details the ABA’s views on key areas of focus including the future of work; equal opportunities for women; future labour force participation.
Download PDFCost of Living inquiry
20 March 2023
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) welcomes the opportunity to provide this submission to the Senate Select Committee on Cost of Living’s (Committee) inquiry into the cost of living pressures facing Australians, ways to ease the cost of living and the Government’s fiscal policy response (Inquiry). Banks are aware of the challenges Australians face in the current inflationary environment, which have arisen from a combination of the COVID-19 pandemic, high household savings, pent-up demand, and global factors, including supply chain constraints and the war in Ukraine. To curb inflation, the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), alongside other central banks globally, have responded by tightening monetary policy. The increases in the target cash rate have had flow-on effects to the cost of banking and living for Australian consumers.
Download PDFCrypto assets token mapping
20 March 2023
The Australian Banking Association (ABA) welcomes the Treasury’s consultation and the role that this initiative can play in developing a crypto regulatory regime in Australia. Regulation of crypto assets The Reserve Bank’s retail Central Bank Digital Currency trial highlights the potential for crypto assets to benefit the economy, with a role for banks, payments, financial markets and fintechs. The crypto assets market continues to grow. An estimated 25.6% of Australians own crypto assets,1 and the global cryptocurrency market rebounded to an estimated US$1.08 trillion in early 2023.
Download PDFCrypto assets token mapping
6 March 2023
Clarifying the legal regime for crypto assets can make Australia a more attractive destination for legitimate innovation, investment and use of crypto assets and related technology. highlight the case for applying clear and consistent regulation to crypto assets to protect retail investors, apply oversight of financial services including advice, and maintain the transparency and integrity of financial markets. Specifically, ABA supports clarifying expectations and regulatory obligations in relation to scams, in line with the Government’s policy focus on scams prevention and response. This should include capability for ‘notify and take down’ and taking part in funds recovery.
Download PDFPayment Times Reporting Act
3 March 2023
The ABA supports the policy objective that large businesses pay small businesses on time. Banks have taken a range of steps to support small business customers throughout the COVID-19 pandemic and following recent major natural disasters. As a relatively new reporting regime, the ABA considers there is room to improve the scheme to ensure greater efficiency while maintaining or improving its effectiveness.
Download PDFASIC Investigation and Enforcement
28 February 2023
ABA notes that one of the considerations for ASIC ought to be the deployment of the best combination of enforcement tools that would bring about early resolution of matters in a way that would promote customer confidence. Unresolved issues which extend for many months are unhelpful to customer confidence. Additionally, extended resolution times can cause uncertainty within the industry as it awaits an outcome. We suggest EUs and Infringement Notices are particularly useful because they not only punish poor practices, but they also deliver speedier improvements to business practice and customer outcomes.
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