The Reserve Bank today released a consultation document on a proposed new ‘Dashboard’ approach to quarterly disclosure for locally incorporated banks.
This proposal comes from the Bank’s Regulatory Stocktake, that was completed last year and aimed to improve the efficiency, clarity and consistency of prudential requirements for banks and non-bank deposit takers.
Effective disclosure is a critical part of the Reserve Bank’s approach to prudential regulation, which is based upon the three pillars of market discipline, self-discipline and regulatory discipline.
Deputy Governor Grant Spencer said: “While current public disclosures by locally incorporated banks largely achieve their purpose, these disclosures could be made in a more accessible and comparable manner.”
The Dashboard proposal involves publishing quarterly information from locally incorporated banks on the Reserve Bank’s website in a standardised and easily comparable manner, replacing the requirement for locally incorporated banks to prepare off-quarter disclosure statements. However, banks will continue to produce full-year and half-year disclosure statements. Information for the Dashboard will largely be drawn from information that banks privately report to the Reserve Bank, helping to keep compliance costs to a minimum.
“The Dashboard will enhance market discipline by bringing key information about different banks together in one place, and presenting that information in a standardised manner. This will help depositors, investors and analysts to compare the risks and financial positions of locally incorporated banks,” Mr Spencer said.
The consultation document includes an alternative to the Dashboard in the form of an amended off-quarter disclosure statement. The paper discusses issues arising from the Dashboard proposal and the potential alternative, and from the Reserve Bank’s separate proposal to remove the requirement for registered bank branches to prepare off-quarter disclosure statements.
Submissions on the consultation close at 5pm on 1 December 2016.
More information: Dashboard Approach to Quarterly Disclosure