2021-04-29 06:36:20 GMT2021-04-29 14:36:20(Beijing Time) Xinhua English
CANBERRA, April 29 (Xinhua) The head of Australia s financial regulator has warned banks of the increasingly very real impacts of climate change on finance.
Wayne Byres, the chair of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), recently urged the country s banks to consider the business risks of climate change including a drop in the value of fossil fuel assets such as coal-fired power plants.
He told the Committee for Economic Development of Australia (CEDA) that banks must consider climate change in their decision-making, announcing that APRA and the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) will conduct climate stress tests of the big five banks.
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Australian Prudential Regulatory Authority (APRA) chairman, Wayne Byers, has hosed down speculation that the regulator would take action to cool Australia’s rapidly rising property market:
“Risk for the financial system occurs when lending standards are poor or weak,” Mr Byres told a Committee for the Economic Development of Australia event.
“We don’t see that up to now – banks have done a pretty good job in holding lending standards up.”
The APRA chief also said that regulatory settings were “broadly right”, given that the agency’s mandate was broader than stability of the financial system at all costs.
Australian Treasury
The Morrison Government has today appointed Mr Joseph Longo as the full‑time Chairperson and Ms Sarah Court as a full‑time Deputy Chairperson to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) for a five‑year period commencing on 1 June 2021.
ASIC is an independent statutory body that is responsible for regulating financial markets, securities, futures and corporations as well as being responsible for consumer protection in relation to superannuation, insurance and banking.
Mr Longo has had a long and distinguished career in corporate law, financial services, governance and regulation. Mr Longo is currently a senior advisor at Herbert Smith Freehills and prior to that worked as general counsel for Deutsche Bank in London and Hong Kong for 17 years, was the national director of enforcement at ASIC and a partner at Parker & Parker (now Herbert Smith Freehills).
Treasurer Josh Frydenberg has cleaned out the leadership of the corporate regulator and inserted a new guard, heralding a shift to a more business-friendly footing.
Treasurer announces new ASIC chair and deputy chair
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The federal Treasurer has announced the replacements for ASIC chair James Shipton and former deputy chair Daniel Crennan.
Joe Longo, a senior adviser at law firm Herbert Smith Freehills with experience in legal advisory, regulatory enforcement and internal legal and commercial matters in global banking and financial regulation, has been named as the new chair of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).
Mr Longo was previously the national director of enforcement at ASIC, where he was responsible for the national co-ordination and direction of the regulator’s enforcement and litigation activities.