An international group of banking, securities and insurance supervisors, the Joint Forum, has released a discussion paper that aims to improve the resilience of financial systems to major operational disruptions. The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) are both participants in the Joint Forum.
The Joint Forum was established in 1996 under the aegis of the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision (BCBS), the International Organisation of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) and the International Association of Insurance Supervisors (IAIS) to deal with issues common to the banking, securities and insurance sectors, including the supervision of financial conglomerates.
The paper, High-level principles for business continuity, establishes a consistent context for the development of business continuity arrangements. It promotes a set of high‑level guiding principles that reflect the current risk environment and the interdependencies of the global financial sector.
It provides authorities and financial institutions with a broad framework for developing business continuity arrangements that are more closely tailored to their unique sectoral and local circumstances.
APRA was a member of the working group which developed the discussion paper.
In light of the importance of ensuring that the Australian financial system meets international standards for resilience to major operational disruptions, APRA encourages Australian financial institutions to provide comments on the paper.
The paper is available on the websites of the Bank for International Settlements (http://www.bis.org), IOSCO (http://www.iosco.org) and the IAIS (http://www.iaisweb.org).
The timetable is for the Joint Forum to approve the principles in June 2006. Comments should be sent to APRA at jointforum@apra.gov.au and the Joint Forum Secretariat at baselcommittee@bis.org by 10 March 2006.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) is the prudential regulator of the financial services industry. It oversees banks, credit unions, building societies, general insurance and reinsurance companies, life insurance, friendly societies, and most members of the superannuation industry.
APRA is funded largely by the industries that it supervises. It was established on 1 July 1998. APRA currently supervises institutions holding approximately $2.2 trillion in assets for 20 million Australian depositors, policyholders and superannuation fund members.
Media and industry inquiries only:
Stuart Snell, Head of Public Affairs
Australian Prudential Regulation Authority
Telephone: 02 9210 3384
Mobile: 0407 250 276
All other inquiries:
APRA Contact Centre
1300 131 060
