APRA Insight - Issue Four 2020

A message from APRA Executive Director  Renée Roberts

Welcome to the fourth and final edition of APRA Insight for 2020.

Features

A conversation with outgoing APRA Member Geoff Summerhayes

Geoff Summerhayes reflects on his five-year term at APRA, and shares some thoughts about the future.

The superannuation Early Release Scheme: Insights from APRA’s Pandemic Data Collection

The COVID-19 Pandemic Data Collection was launched in June, and paints a detailed picture of how the superannuation Early Release Scheme is impacting funds and member outcomes.

APRA’s loan repayment deferral data: Shining a light on credit risk

COVID-19 has seen banks grant temporary loan repayment deferrals, and APRA’s loan repayment deferral data tells an interesting story about the scale and nature of this credit risk.

 

Superannuation: How a skills matrix can help transform board capability

Using a skills matrix is widely considered to be good governance, and a strong skills matrix is a tool used by best-practice boards to achieve better outcomes.

APRA Explains

Applying to APRA to use restricted words

APRA explains the restrictions on using certain words related to banking, and how APRA responds to applications to use restricted words.

On the horizon

While the most exciting thing on the horizon for many of us is the approach of Christmas and the end of a remarkably challenging year, APRA still has some important announcements scheduled in the final weeks of 2020.

Next week APRA will release the next stage of the ADI capital framework consultation, designed to make it more risk-sensitive, flexible and transparent. There will be a greater utilisation of buffers, increasing the ability of the framework to better respond to future crises. A focus of the design has also been a proportionate approach that provides a simpler framework for smaller ADIs, in keeping with the relative simplicity of their business models.

As always, much is happening in superannuation. Mid-December, APRA will unveil the first full refresh of the MySuper Product Heatmap that it launched a year ago. As in 2019, the Heatmap uses a graduating colour scheme to provide credible, clear and comparable insights into MySuper products across three areas: investment performance, fees and costs, and sustainability of member outcomes. This year, however, APRA will be highlighting those funds whose heatmap profiles remain predominantly red for the second straight year.