BNK fined for reporting failures

BNK Banking Corporation Limited (BNK) has been hit with a hefty fine of $247,500 by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) due to its failure to meet reporting obligations.

According to the regulator, BNK was 32 days late in submitting data required under the Economic and Financial Statistics program for the month ending on 28 February 2023.

This failure to meet reporting deadlines resulted in BNK’s violation of the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 (FSCODA), which mandates the timely submission of data.

BNK has confirmed it was issued 18 infringement notices by APRA in relation to the overdue reporting and “accepts that the company failed to comply with the reporting standards”..

BNK has until 1 August to pay the fine.

Acknowledging the action taken by APRA, BNK chief executive Allan Savins said a “technical issue with its core banking platform” had prevented it from generating the internal information needed for APRA Monthly ADI Statistics on time.

“We informed APRA as soon as we became aware of the issue in February and dedicated substantial time resources to resolve the issue and submit the outstanding reporting forms,” Mr Savins said.

“While the incident was extremely unfortunate, we can assure APRA and other shareholders that the rectification is now complete.”

Mr Savins reiterated its reporting obligations had been met for subsequent months.

APRA member Therese McCarthy Hockey said the fine aimed to send a clear message to the industry regarding the significance of adhering to reporting standards and submitting data punctually.

“We expect all entities to be compliant with our reporting standards to ensure APRA always has the most up-to-date information on the industries we regulate,” Ms McCarthy Hockey said.

“Access to accurate and timely data is critical for APRA to effectively monitor the safety and stability of Australia’s banking, insurance, and superannuation systems.”

Despite BNK’s breach of data requirements, Ms McCarthy Hockey acknowledged that the organisation had provided sufficient reporting to enable APRA to ensure that the organisation continued to remain prudentially sound over the period.

Meanwhile, the latest ADI statistics for May 2023 showed that both owner-occupier and investor loans book grew over the month, with the volume of owner-occupier loans lifting by 0.57 per cent, from $1.41 trillion to $1.42 trillion.

In addition, investor loan books on Australian banks grew by 0.29 per cent, from $683 billion to $685 billion.

[Related: Bank loan books grow to over 2.1 trillion]