The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) today introduced revised requirements for the reporting of friendly society financial statements and statistics to APRA.

The amendments to Prudential Rules No 47 and No 48 follow the introduction in Australia of International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) and consequential changes to the Actuarial Standards under the Life Insurance Act 1995 by the Life Insurance Actuarial Standards Board.

The changes to friendly society regulatory returns also reflect the expiry of Australian Securities and Investments Commission class order 99/1225 on 31 December 2005. This exempted friendly societies from elements of the Corporations Act 2001, including Accounting Standard AASB 1038.

Where appropriate, the new reporting requirements align regulatory reporting with general purpose reporting under Australian accounting standards to streamline the reporting process. The reporting requirements ensure that APRA will continue to receive consistent and standardised information to monitor prudential strength following the introduction of IFRS.

The revised prudential rules apply to regulatory financial statements and statistics produced for reporting periods ending on or after 31 May 2006, to co-ordinate with general purpose reporting requirements and the implementation of the revised Actuarial Standards. To assist with compliance, friendly societies have an additional six weeks to submit their initial reports.

The changes follow industry consultation, including the release in February of APRA's discussion paper Changes to Friendly Society Regulatory Returns - Prudential Rules Nos 47 and 48 together with draft prudential rules.

Copies of the prudential rules are available on APRA's website at: http://www.apra.gov.au/Friendly/PrudentialRules.cfm

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