The Australian banking regulator said on Tuesday Australia's banks would benefit from being part of a global push to strengthen liquidity requirements.
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) executives said local banks already have a strong capital position and will not have difficulty meeting new capital requirements proposed as part of the new framework for bank capital and liquidity known as Basel III.
In testimony to the Senate inquiry into competition in the banking sector, the officials said Australian banks would benefit from being part of strengthened banking requirements with enhanced liquidity requirements.
Answering a question in the committee hearing on Tuesday, Wayne Byres, APRA executive general manager for the Diversified Institutions Division said, "It's not as though our banks were as robust as they could be on the liquidity front."
The government guarantee for deposits and wholesale funding were measures that protected the banks' liquidity position, Byres said.
Leaders of the Group of 20 countries meeting in the South Korean capital of Seoul in November endorsed the agreement reached by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) on the new bank capital and liquidity framework, the so-called Basel III. Under Basel III, banks would be required to hold more and better quality capital, as well as put in place a more robust liquidity framework.
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) executives said local banks already have a strong capital position and will not have difficulty meeting new capital requirements proposed as part of the new framework for bank capital and liquidity known as Basel III.
In testimony to the Senate inquiry into competition in the banking sector, the officials said Australian banks would benefit from being part of strengthened banking requirements with enhanced liquidity requirements.
Answering a question in the committee hearing on Tuesday, Wayne Byres, APRA executive general manager for the Diversified Institutions Division said, "It's not as though our banks were as robust as they could be on the liquidity front."
The government guarantee for deposits and wholesale funding were measures that protected the banks' liquidity position, Byres said.
Leaders of the Group of 20 countries meeting in the South Korean capital of Seoul in November endorsed the agreement reached by the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS) on the new bank capital and liquidity framework, the so-called Basel III. Under Basel III, banks would be required to hold more and better quality capital, as well as put in place a more robust liquidity framework.
