APRA looks to broaden non-bank lending data collection

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has published a letter addressed to non-authorised deposit-taking institutions (non-ADIs), informing them of its proposed changes to the Economic and Financial Statistics (EFS) data collection regime.

Over the past few years, APRA, the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) and the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) have worked to update Australia’s financial sector data.

The EFS consists of data collected from ADIs (including banks, building societies and credit unions) and registered financial corporations, used to compile macroeconomic indicators to inform regulators and policymakers.

As part of the new regime, APRA proposed changes to capture lending volumes from the non-ADI sector “in a manner that allows direct comparisons to the ADI sector”.

“This will allow APRA and the Council of Financial Regulators to assess the impact of non-ADI lending activity on financial stability,” the regulator noted.

The proposed changes are expected to take effect from the reporting period ending 31 July 2019, with existing individual reporting exemptions to be revoked or amended once the changes come into effect.

APRA has opened consultation to stakeholders regarding the changes, with submissions due by 1 June 2019.  

[Related: APRA gears up for new data reporting era]