APRA adopts accelerated Basel III timetable for Australia

Today the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) released a discussion paper outlining its proposed implementation of the Basel III capital reforms (as set out in Basel Committee's December 2010 paper Basel III: A global regulatory framework for more resilient banks and banking systems).

In the interests of international consistency, APRA proposes to adopt the minimum Basel III capital requirements in full except where there are strong in-principle reasons for continuing APRA's current policies. This approach will require APRA to take a stricter approach than at present in some areas but a less conservative approach in others. Perhaps the most significant deviation from the Basel III requirements is APRA's proposal to adopt an accelerated timetable for the introduction of Basel III. This and other matters raised in APRA's discussion paper are summarised below.