The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has recently published a new crypto policy roadmap and management plan. This risk management framework will be valid till 2025. The APRA is developing this long-term prudential framework in consultation with other international regulators.
The framework will address all the crypto-related activities in Australia to ensure a consistent management approach.
The APRA, an independent statutory body, is responsible for all the matters regarding financial stability in Australia. Moreover, all the regulated bodies will be conducted comprehensively with a proper risk management profile before taking any crypto domain actions under this new framework.
Banks, credit unions, building societies, life insurers, friendly societies, general insurance companies, etc., are some of the regulatory bodies that come under APRA.
Australia set new standards for regulated bodies
The regulated bodies are expected to ensure the standards set by the APRA. Moreover, they should maintain disclosure and compliance conditions set by the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC).
Furthermore, APRA’s Chairperson Wayne Byres mentioned that the Basel Committee on banking supervision is deciding the various criteria by which the deposit-taking institutions will treat the crypto assets.
Byres said, “These criteria set up by the Basal Committee will provide a basis for internationally agreed minimum standards for the deposit-taking institutions. And the APRA-regulated industries will get prudential expectations from it.”
Last month, ANZ became the first bank in Australia to mint A$DC, Australian Dollar Stablecoin. Meanwhile, Commonwealth Bank of Australia is also looking to extend new crypto offerings to trading investors and is reportedly in talks with regulators.
Besides crypto investing, these guidelines will include issuance, extraction, and other activities associated with digital assets.
EFTs introducing
This regulatory framework is coming at the time when Australia is working towards approving its first-ever Bitcoin exchange-traded funds EFTs.
Australia has been working towards tightening its crypto regulations since last year. The government has also proposed several new regulations, including cryptocurrency taxes, digital banks regulation policies, crypto exchanges, and protection of investors from criminals.
