Following on from APRA’s consultation package released on 18 March 2021, which closed on 30 April, APRA has now released an updated guide to Licensing for new/intending ADIs including neobanks, digital banks and foreign banks.
As part of APRA’s consultation process, we held a virtual roundtable with a number of our clients and lodged a submission with APRA highlighting a number of key changes, including providing more clarity and transparency, reducing barriers to entry and increasing competition, more cohesiveness between launching products and the licensing process, as well as increased collaboration between regulators.
It’s pleasing to see that APRA has provided some welcome clarity on the licensing process, expectations of applications and how APRA intends to govern the licensing process.
Prior to this consultation process, APRA put a hold on new licences from March 2020 – March 2021. Since both the suspension being lifted and the consultation being released, we’ve already seen Alex Bank granted a licence as a restricted authorised deposit-taking institution – the first in more than one and a half years. It’s great news for the sector, and we’re excited to see others follow suit following the updated guide.
Below we outline what’s included in the updated guide, including the new clarifications, what has stayed the same, and APRA’s expectations for both RADIs and Full ADIs.
APRA Accordion 1
APRA Accordion 2
APRA Accordion 3
APRA Accordion 4
APRA Accordion 5
APRA Accordion 6
APRA Accordion 7
Read the full response paper here. Stay tuned for further guidance to be provided by APRA on NOHC requirements and Financial Sector Shareholdings Act.
APRA has concurrently published Guidelines – Licensing Locally-Incorporated ADIs.
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