Industry Regulation Revamp in Six Months
Government announced a fundamental shift in the regulation of the industry, with a 6 month timeline to the proposed implementation date.
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) was taking over responsibility for the industry’s regulation.
Solution
We set up a Working Group of industry participants to work through the proposed regulations and provide appropriate resolutions.
We worked closely with the Minister’s office and with a number of relevant government departments.
Our ‘wins’ included:
Removing imprisonment as a penalty, except for particularly serious offences
Reduced financial penalties
Removing strict liability offences
Defences were reinstated
Introduced materiality thresholds
Legal professional privilege was reinstated
Financial sector peak industry groups congratulated us on the level of engagement we had reached with the government and asked us for tips to increase their own engagement.