Wayne Byres speech to the Risk Management Association covered a range of developments but, for me, the important part was the discussion of the distinction between strength and resilience referenced in the title of this post.
This extract from the speech sets out how Mr Byres frames the distinction …
… in the post-GFC period, the emphasis of the international reforms was on strengthening the global financial system. Now, the narrative is how to improve its resilience. A perusal of APRA speeches and announcements over time shows a much greater emphasis on resilience in more recent times as well.
What is behind this shift? Put simply, it is possible to be strong, but not resilient. Your car windscreen is a great example – without doubt it is a very strong piece of glass, but one small crack and it is irreparably damaged and ultimately needs to be replaced. That is obviously not the way we want the financial system to be. We want a system that is able to absorb shocks, even from so-called “black swan” events, and have the means to restore itself to full health.
In saying that, financially strong balance sheets undoubtedly help provide resilience, and safeguarding financial strength will certainly remain the cornerstone of prudential regulation and supervision. But it is not the full story. So with that in mind, let me offer some quick reflections on the past year, and what it has revealed about opportunities for the resilience of the financial system to be further improved.
APRA Chair Wayne Byres – Speech to the 2020 Forum of the Risk Management Association – 3 December 2020
To my mind, the introduction of an increased emphasis on resilience is absolutely the right way to go. We saw some indications of the direction APRA intend to pursue in the speech that Mr Byres gave to the AFR Banking and Wealth Summit last month and will get more detail next week (hopefully) when APRA releases a consultation paper setting out a package of bank capital reforms that is likely to include a redesign of the capital buffer framework.
This package of reforms is one to watch. To the extent that it delivers on the promise of increasing the resilience of the Australian banking system, it is potentially as significant as the introduction of the “unquestionably strong” benchmark in response to the Australian Financial System Inquiry.
Tony – From the Outside
From the outside 