Across Australia, financial institutions are preparing for the introduction of APRA Connect, which replaces Direct to APRA (D2A). We partnered with the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) to create the system and can help you reduce costs and manual effort with your regulatory reporting.  

After a six-month delay due to the Covid-19 pandemic, APRA Connect is set to launch in September 2021. In this post, we outline some important steps your entity should take to ensure readiness and highlight some important dates in the APRA Connect timeline. 

5 steps you should take to get ready for APRA Connect 

Every entity is responsible for its readiness for APRA Connect in advance of September 2021. Direct to APRA (D2A) will continue to be used for most existing collections, which means that dual reporting systems will be in place for the medium term. 

Lodgement by email, fax or mail will not be accepted once APRA Connect goes live, so any entities that currently don’t use D2A will need to start using the new system. Financial institutions who report to APRA should prepare by taking the following steps: 

  • Liaise with APRA’s Strategic, Technical, and Software Working Groups for guidance and direction on the implementation and transition 
  • Create and complete entity’s profile on APRA Connect  
  • Ensure the contact details for responsible persons and related parties are available 
  • Use the APRA Connect test environment which will launch in June 2021 to familiarise your organisation with the solution and how submissions work  
  • Talk to regulatory technology (RegTech) providers about automating your APRA Connect reporting 

2. Important dates for APRA Connect  

The APRA Connect system goes live at the end of September 2021, but the date of commencement of data collection varies according to each sector, with different deadlines for banks, superannuation, and insurance.  

  • April/ May 2021: A pilot in the external test environment will be conducted for a small number of superannuation entities to allow early testing of the system and guidance materials before rollout to all entities in June. 
     
  • June 2021: The test environment goes live. Entities should be ready to try and test their data validation and submission processes, so they are ready on day one when the system goes live. 
     
  • September 2021: Go-Live for Superannuation. Banks or ADIs must provide their Banking Executive Accountability Regime information in APRA Connect, while Credit Quality and Operational Risk documentation are expected to go live in APRA Connect in March 2022. 

New accounting standards for the insurance industry will be introduced in APRA Connect, but will not start until 2021. Entities should be familiar with the test environment which APRA intends to use to support engagement with industry on the design of future data collections. 

3. The APRA Connect partnership 

In April 2019, we were selected by APRA as the platform of choice to replace its D2A solution.  

With our API-powered platform for regulatory reporting, financial institutions get automatic system updates in real-time that sync with APRA Connect templates and rules. Since your data is validated before you file it using APRA Connect, you’re guaranteed right-first-time submission.  

By ensuring right-first-time submissions you’ll get fewer queries from APRA, so your organisation can focus on other activities. In leveraging the same technology as APRA, you’ll always have the latest updates available and instant feedback on failures or warnings. This will eliminate complex system upgrades and reduce the cost of future regulatory changes. 

Our solution integrates easily with existing systems using RESTful API, and it’s cost-efficient because all APRA Connect reports and updates are ‘out of the box’. The time it takes to process data is lessened, and there is no duplication of effort when processes change. 

Automating your regulatory reporting process is a cost-effective and future-proofed solution to the challenges that come with managing data for regulatory requirements. 

Do you need help with your APRA Connect reporting? We can help. Book a demo today.

 

 

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