ASX-listed digital bank fined by APRA for breaching data requirements

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has fined BNK Banking Corporation Limited, the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX)-listed digital bank, $247,500 for failing to report data by the required deadlines.

In the press release, the APRA said the bank was 32 days late in filing its statistical reports for the month, at the end of February, under the Economic and Financial Statistical program, which meant the bank had breached the requirements of the Financial Sector (Collection of Data) Act 2001 (FSCODA).

BNK said in the announcement made to the ASX that it has agreed to pay the penalty and acknowledged the action taken by APRA, confirming it was issued with 18 infringement notices in total by APRA in relation to the overdue submission of the reporting forms.

Bank’s chief executive, Allan Savins, blamed a technical issue with its core banking platform which prevented the firm from generating the internal information needed for APRA’s Monthly ADI statistics on time.

“We informed APRA as soon as we became aware of the issue in February and dedicated substantial resources to resolve the issue and submit the outstanding reporting forms,” he said.

“While this incident was extremely unfortunate, we can assure APRA and other stakeholders that the rectification work is now complete.”

APRA member Therese McCarthy Hockey said that by issuing the fine, APRA wanted to send a clear message to industry of the importance of submitting data on time.

“We expect all entities to be compliant with our reporting standards to ensure APRA always has the most up-to date information on the industries we regulate,” she added.

“Access to accurate and timely data is critical for APRA to effectively monitor the safety and stability of Australia’s banking, insurance and superannuation systems.”

She also noted that notwithstanding BNK’s disappointing breach of data requirements, BNK was still able to provide sufficient reporting to allow APRA to ensure that the organisation continued to remain prudentially sound over the period.

BNK has until 1 August to pay the fine.