Australia

Fintech / Regtech

APRA Grants Second ‘Restricted ADI’ Licence

By Editors | 19/12/2018

Xinja Bank, the latest recipient of the restricted ADI licence, has a prepaid card on the market and an ASIC-approved home loan product.

Enforcement

ACCC to Get A$35mn to Pursue Anti-Competitive Behaviour

By Editors | 18/12/2018

New specialist investigators are expected to bring more competition cases to court each year and boost prosecutions of criminal cartels, especially in the financial sector.

AML / KYC

AUSTRAC Publishes AML/CTF Guidance for Superannuation Sector

By Editors | 17/12/2018

While superannuation is not traditionally associated with financial crime exploitation, AUSTRAC’s risk assessment has rated the sector as medium risk.

Capital / Liquidity

New Zealand Proposes to Nearly Double Bank Capital Requirements

By Editors | 17/12/2018

The proposal would set a Tier 1 capital requirement equal to 16% of risk-weighted assets for the big four banks, and 15% for other banks, up from 8.5% currently.

Fintech / Regtech

NAB to Migrate Core Banking Systems to Cloud

By Manesh Samtani | 12/12/2018

National Australia Bank plans to migrate more than 300 applications, including some core banking systems, to a public cloud by the end of 2019.

Capital / Liquidity

Australia’s Banking Oligopoly Lacks Mortgage Price Transparency – ACCC

By Editors | 11/12/2018

An inquiry by Australia’s competition watchdog found that opaque discretionary mortgage pricing at major banks is stifling competition and disincentivising borrowers from seeking better offers.

Fintech / Regtech

Australia Passes ‘Deeply Flawed’ Anti-Encryption Bill

By Manesh Samtani | 11/12/2018

The powers granted under the bill allow law enforcement agencies to compel access to encrypted messages, which could have broader implications for financial services.

Capital / Liquidity

Financial System Risks Eased, but Higher Capital Necessary – RBNZ

By Manesh Samtani | 30/11/2018

Though domestic financial stability risks have abated, the RBNZ said higher bank capital requirements are necessary, while also easing mortgage lending curbs.

Securities / Derivatives

ASX Consults on Changes to Listing Rules

By Editors | 29/11/2018

The proposals aim to improve market disclosures, simplify the listing rules, increase efficiency in the listing process, and enhance ASX’s powers to monitor and enforce compliance, among other changes.