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Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n AAA<\/p>\n The nation\u2019s two most important financial regulators will be told to give more weight to economic growth when policing banks and listed companies.<\/p>\n Treasurer Jim Chalmers this morning issued new, so-called statements of expectations for both the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission that set down how the government wants the agencies to exercise their powers.<\/p>\n Businesses and banks have complained for more than a decade<\/a> that both agencies have ramped up red tape as governments of both political persuasions have sought to protect consumers from poor practices.<\/p>\n The Global Financial Crisis and the banking royal commission led to large increases in rules and regulations aimed at curbing the worst excesses of corporate leaders, while there have been ongoing concerns about environmental regulation governing businesses.<\/p>\n Chalmers said the statements of expectations for both agencies would now contain a larger emphasis on promoting economic growth<\/a>.<\/p>\n Related Article \u201cThis is all about enabling our financial regulators to unlock more productivity and more growth in our economy,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cThese statements will ensure our financial regulators can help support productivity, unlock investment and grow our economy while preserving financial stability and market integrity and protecting consumers from harm.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re striking the right balance between supporting productivity and investment, reducing the regulatory burden on businesses, promoting stability, and safeguarding our financial system and markets.\u201d<\/p>\n Chalmers oversaw the last APRA statement of expectations, which was updated in 2023.<\/p>\n It required the authority to promote financial safety, efficiency and competition in the sector while also ensuring the \u201cflow finance to support strong, sustainable growth\u201d.<\/p>\n The 2023 statement also sought to balance regulation in the superannuation sector with a goal of a \u201clow incidence\u201d of failure but not to go so far as to \u201cguarantee a zero failure rate\u201d.<\/p>\n The ASIC\u2019s statement of expectations dates back to 2021 and then-treasurer Josh Frydenberg.<\/p>\n It was heavily focused on supporting the nation\u2019s economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, but it also noted the corporation should \u201cminimise the costs and burdens of regulatory requirements\u201d on affected businesses and consumers.<\/p>\n Chalmers said the changed directions followed from the budget\u2019s $10 billion productivity package and built on issues raised during last year\u2019s economic reform roundtable.<\/p>\n In May, Chalmers unveiled a series of measures he said would slash regulatory costs and boost productivity. These included overhauling requirements for climate-related financial disclosures, changes to electronic record-keeping rules and increasing the cap on banks\u2019 covered bond issuance.<\/p>\n The government estimates changes to regulations will save the financial sector $780 million a year.<\/p>\n But shadow treasurer Tim Wilson ridiculed the government\u2019s changes.<\/p>\n \u201cThe Albanese government\u2019s economic model stokes inflation, taxes inflation and spends inflation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cNow, after smashing confidence in the future of the Australian economy in their budget, they\u2019re outsourcing responsibility for growth to regulators.<\/p>\n \u201cUntil we have a change of government with economic leadership focused on growing the pie, living standards will continue to fall backward.\u201d<\/p>\n Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter<\/a>.<\/p>\n Save<\/p>\n You have reached your maximum number of saved items.<\/p>\n Remove items from your saved list<\/a> to add more.<\/p>\n![\"Treasurer](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/943c53585c1b2b9c47259d90d60372914af8dc38.jpeg\")
Treasurer Jim Chalmers issued new directions to the corporate and banking regulators to give more weight to ensuring the economy can grow.Alex Ellinghausen<\/p>\n![\"Costco](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/2dc182f3359f3039b24d4d2ae0b68b79ae5f7a86.jpeg\")
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Shane Wright<\/a> is a senior economics correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":802942,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[64,63,99],"class_list":["post-802941","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-business"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802941","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=802941"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/802941\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/802942"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=802941"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=802941"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=802941"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}