Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
Reflect and reposition
After hopefully overcoming the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Australian securitisation industry is taking stock of a period of resilience and a reshaped competitive landscape. Top of mind for market participants are the way crisis response has changed the cost of funding unevenly for different issuer types and mooted changes to responsible-lending rules.
Sailing into the wind
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s final guidance on a principles-based approach to ensuring financial institutions appropriately manage climate-related financial risk comes as a growing cohort of nations signal intentions to introduce mandatory regimes. Some observers compliment the Australian approach while others fear it could exacerbate jurisdictional divergence.
Knock-on effects
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s decision to reduce the size of the committed liquidity facility to zero by the end of next year may not be entirely surprising but it has ramifications across the local fixed-income market. The most obvious are on the demand side, but a closer examination of the decision’s implications also reveals likely consequences for supply dynamics.
Australian housing takes off… again
Australian house prices have once again defied expectations, this time from the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic, by resuming a seemingly unstoppable upward trajectory. While the Reserve Bank of Australia continues to insist rate hikes are not coming in the medium term, speculation is mounting about macroprudential intervention and financial-stability risk.
APRA urged to go beyond voluntary guidelines in climate-change risk assessment
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority released its draft prudential practice guide on climate-change financial risks for consultation on 22 April, setting out voluntary prudential management related to governance, risk management, scenario analysis and disclosure. Some industry participants are urging the regulator to use this as a first step to mandatory risk disclosure.
Basel Committee homing in on climate risk
The Basel Committee on Banking Supervision published a report on 14 April detailing the transmission mechanisms of physical and transition climate risks into financial stability risk. Risks can be observed through traditional lenses, but the committee says more research is needed fully to understand the potential impact of climate change on the financial system.
