The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has laid out its five-year roadmap for the transformation of its data collection scheme, details of which were released on Thursday through a discussion paper.
APRA is responsible for over 2,000 entities in the financial industry and its plan to streamline the data collection process is expected to “significantly improve APRA’s capacity to protect the community.”
“Access to high quality data is essential for APRA to monitor whether entities are meeting their prudential requirements, and to identify and address emerging risks in a timely manner,” said deputy chair Helen Rowell.
The discussion paper specifically outlined plans to collect data through the new APRA Connect system, enabling the regulator to move away from its current system, D2A. APRA expects to have all collections migrated to APRA Connect by 2027.
The paper also laid out timelines for the different sectors under APRA, providing specific details that will allow stakeholders to fully envision how their industries might be affected by the proposed changes.
The insurance industry, for example, can expect data collections to shift from D2A to APRA Connect “reasonably quickly,” with the paper specifying that the “majority of APRA’s insurance data collections need to be updated in response to the Australian Accounting Standards Board 17 Insurance Contracts (AASB 17).” These new standards will modify key accounting concepts in APRA’s prudential and reporting framework, requiring redesigns to APRA connect that are set to be launched in 2023.
“Collecting more granular and consistent data that better enables data-driven decision-making is one of the core pillars of our Corporate Plan. We are already well down this road with APRA Connect up and running, and the phase one of the Superannuation Data Transformation now complete,” said Rowell, adding that the transformed scheme will “lower the burden on industry by making data submission more efficient, reducing duplication and the need for ad hoc data requests.”
Industry webinars and roundtable discussions on the proposed roadmap are set to be scheduled in the coming weeks, giving stakeholders a chance to learn more of APRA’s plans. Interested parties may also submit their responses to the discussion paper by 24 June.
The paper is available on the APRA website: apra.gov.au/direction-for-data-collections.
