The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has given Macquarie Bank partial relief from the extra liquidity requirements imposed after control failures in 2021–22, following a fresh supervisory review.
APRA said it first acted “following material breaches that revealed weaknesses in the bank’s liquidity risk controls and operational risk management.”
In April 2021, Macquarie was required to lift its net cash outflow (NCO) overlay by 15% in the liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) calculation and reduce available stable funding (ASF) by 1% in its net stable funding ratio (NSFR). A remediation plan was agreed at the time. After further NCO calculation errors were identified, APRA increased the NCO overlay by another 10% in April 2022, taking the total overlay to 25%.
The move comes after APRA rolled out targeted changes to banks’ liquidity and capital standards from 1 July 2025, including new rules requiring some banks to regularly mark liquid assets to market and be “operationally ready” to provide detailed data when seeking emergency liquidity from the RBA.
Following a “detailed supervisory assessment, including a Financial Accountability Regime attestation from Macquarie Bank” and independent assurance, APRA now says the bank has improved “liquidity risk management and reporting controls that affect the NCO and ASF calculations to a level that supports a partial removal of its liquidity add-on requirements.”
Effective immediately, the NCO add‑on is reduced to 15% and the ASF adjustment is removed.
However, APRA stressed that “the remaining NCO add‑ons will remain in place until APRA confirms that all outstanding remediation activities are completed and effectively embedded.” The change is also “separate to the $500m operational risk capital overlay, which is subject to its own remediation activities and remains unchanged.”
The timing also coincides with Macquarie’s rapid mortgage growth, with APRA banking statistics showing its housing book jumping 2.32% in November and nearly 24% over the year – making it a standout challenger brand for brokers and borrowers.
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