Australia & NZ

APRA says it may apply additional capital requirements to regulated institutions with material weaknesses in their governance and management of non-financial risks.

APRA proposes to give ADIs more flexibility in the way they assess mortgage loan serviceability, while also increasing the maximum borrowing capacity for a given borrower.

The RBNZ's capital proposals have been under fire since December. The NZBA is the latest to call for a rethink of the capital rules, citing economic costs estimated over NZ$1.8bn a year.

Two Australian FX brokers announced they will stop servicing overseas customers, after ASIC warned they may be breaking the law in other jurisdictions.

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has revoked ANZ’s right to model its operational risk capital requirements due to persistent failures in controls.

The proposals raise internal dispute resolution standards at financial firms, and introduce mandatory data reporting to help make complaints handling performance more transparent.

The warnings relate to failures by the firms to comply with requirements to have their risk assessments and AML/CFT programmes audited every two years.

New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority and the NZX are seeking public input on a 10 year plan to develop the nation’s capital markets.

A green political party in Australia has announced a new policy that will make carbon risk reporting mandatory for banks, insurers, super funds and the largest listed companies in 2021.

Firms should be aware of the size and nature of their LIBOR exposures, put in place robust fall-back provisions in LIBOR contracts, and be taking action to transition to alternative rates.