Fund Regulatory update

Macquarie slapped with increased liquidity and capital requirements after breaches

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has taken action against Macquarie Bank after breaches of prudential and reporting standards, resulting in increased liquidity and operational risk capital requirements.

Macquarie Bank breached reporting standards on liquidity on several occasions between 2018 and 2020, and incorrect treatment of some intra-group funding arrangements for calculating capital and entity exposure calculations.

Macquarie Bank must now hold an operational capacity of $500 million and require a 15 per cent add-on to net cash outflow in its liquidity coverage ratio calculation and a one per cent adjustment to stable funding within its net stable funding ratio calculation. Increased supervision is also necessary.

ASIC commences civil proceedings against CBA

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has begun civil proceedings against Commonwealth Bank (CBA) over allegations of wrongly charged monthly fees across nine years. ASIC is alleging CBA incorrectly charged $55 million in monthly access fees to almost one million customers who were entitled to fee waivers. ASIC alleges that CBA incorrectly charged fees worth around $11.5 million due to improperly configured systems, inadequate processes and staff error. CBA is defending the matter.