APRA Issues Operational Risk Rules, Consults on Reporting Requirements

APS 115 requires an authorized deposit-taking institution to hold sufficient regulatory capital against its operational risk exposures. The key requirement of this prudential standard is that an authorized deposit-taking institution that is not subject to the simplified framework must calculate its capital requirement for operational risk based on its business indicator, which is a financial-statement-based proxy of its operational risk exposure. This prudential standard applies to authorized deposit-taking institutions, except: (a) foreign authorized deposit-taking institutions; purchased payment facility providers (PPF providers); and authorized deposit-taking institutions that satisfy the eligibility criteria for the simplified framework. An institution must calculate its operational risk capital charge as 12% of its business indicator (BI), plus:

(a) if the BI exceeds $1.5 billion, then 3% of the amount by which the BI exceeds $1.5 billion, plus

(b) if the BI exceeds $45 billion, then 3% of the amount by which the BI exceeds $45 billion.

The consultation on the APS 115 had resulted in six submissions with comments on the operational risk proposals set out in the June response to submissions paper and the draft APS 115. Respondents were supportive of the proposed approach to the determination of capital to be held for operational risk purposes. However, a number of submissions commented on the intention of APRA to issue a new prudential standard covering qualitative operational risk matters. Submissions argued that the absence of information on the content of the future standard creates uncertainty for authorized deposit-taking institutions, given that it is not clear how a qualitative standard will interact with APS 115 and the implementation of that standard. APRA is informing that its qualitative operational risk requirements are still undergoing development and, while the final draft content is yet to be settled, the new standard will not have implications for when and how authorized deposit-taking institutions implement and comply with the new APS 115.

The proposed ARS 115.0 has been designed to be aligned with relevant accounting standards. In most cases, entities will only be required to enter information for the current period, the system will automatically retrieve historic data points and include them in the form. Adjustment fields have been included to take account of events such as divestments and mergers. Authorized deposit-taking institutions will be required to submit the required data for historical periods in the first collection. This data will be used solely for calculating the first period’s capital requirement. The proposed implementation of ARS 115.0 is expected to coincide with the start of the new data collection solution (DCS), which replaces Direct to APRA (D2A), the current data collection tool of APRA. APRA intends for entities to submit ARS 115.0 data in the new DCS and expects that authorized deposit-taking institutions will be able to submit data via manual entry, upload of XBRL, or Microsoft Excel files.

Related Links

• News Release
• APS 115 (PDF)
• Draft ARS 115.0 (PDF)
• Response Letter (PDF)

Comment Due Date: February 21, 2020 (ARS)

Effective Date: January 01, 2021/January 01, 2022 (APS)

Keywords: Asia Pacific, Australia, Banking, Operational Risk, Basel III, Regulatory Capital, Reporting, APS 115, ARS 115, Business Indicator, APRA