Religious charitable development funds (the Funds) are funds established by religious organisations for the purpose of seeking investments from the public in order to make loans that further the religious and charitable goals and objectives of the fund. This fundraising activity meets the definition of banking business under the Banking Act 1959 (Banking Act). APRA will exempt Funds from the requirement to be authorised under the Banking Act where certain specified conditions are met. The current exemption order is Banking exemption No. 1 of 2006.

Banking exemption No. 1 of 2006 (applying to religious charitable development funds)

As part of the conditions under Banking exemption No. 1 of 2006, each Fund listed in Schedule 1 to the exemption order or seeking an exemption from the Banking Act must write to APRA and declare that the Fund complies with the conditions set out in the exemption order.

This letter must be signed by either the Chief Executive Officer of the Fund (or its controlling entity), or another senior manager delegated for this purpose, and be sent to Enforcement, APRA, GPO Box 9836, Sydney NSW 2001. The letter should be sent on the letterhead of the Fund or its controlling entity and, at a minimum, include the following text:

I, [insert name of CEO or delegated senior manager], declare that [insert name of Fund] complies with Conditions 1 to 6 of Banking exemption No. 1 of 2006.

I undertake to notify APRA of any future non-compliance with the conditions of the exemption order.

Signed:
Dated:

Where the Fund cannot comply with Banking exemption No. 1 of 2006 and provide a letter detailing compliance by 1 August 2006, APRA will provide a transition period to 1 July 2007 to enable the Fund to meet the conditions in an orderly manner. In such cases a letter must be sent to APRA detailing the nature and extent of the non-compliance. This letter should be signed by either the Chief Executive Officer of the Fund (or its controlling entity), or another senior manager delegated for this purpose and should, at a minimum, include the following text:

I, [insert name of CEO or delegated senior manager], declare that [insert name of Fund] does not comply with one or more of Conditions 1 to 6 of Banking exemption No. 1 of 2006. The details of this non-compliance follow.

Condition <1-6>: [provide details of non-compliance]

I undertake to provide APRA with a letter declaring compliance with all of the conditions by 1 July 2007. I understand that if this letter is not provided to APRA by this date, the exemption granted to the Fund via Banking exemption No. 1 of 2006 will be revoked by APRA.

Signed:
Dated: