APRA is losing patience with banks over cybersecurity
In her first public interview since becoming APRA’s executive board member, Therese McCarthy Hockey flags cybersecurity vulnerabilities at financial institutions as a major concern.
Australia’s banking regulator is increasingly focused on what was once a pretty nondescript blip on the risk horizon compared with those more traditional sources of chaos in the financial system — credit and market risk.
That rising concern for the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is operational risk. And, more specifically, cybersecurity. And APRA is “losing patience” with financial institutions on some of these emerging fronts.
In her first public interview since becoming APRA’s Executive Board Member with responsibility for banking in October 2022, Therese McCarthy Hockey told Capital Brief the constantly evolving cyber threat would have significant implications for the industry landscape, from the major banks to aspiring disrupters like fintechs.
Squarely in APRA’s sights is the evolution of financial services from individual institutions, which historically undertook most of their operations and managed their risk themselves, to “ecosystems” — partnerships between banks, network providers, fintechs, tech giants and other institutions.
