Australia regulator imposes A$50M capital add-on on ING after liquidity breaches

Australia's prudential regulator, APRA, announced on Thursday new license conditions for ING's local unit in the country. The conditions mandate the bank to maintain higher levels of liquidity and capital after it had previously overstated its liquidity position and occasionally failed to meet minimum requirements.

APRA raised the minimum liquidity requirements for ING Bank Australia, imposing an additional A$50 million ($35.84 million) operational risk capital charge to penalize heightened operational risk and weaknesses in the bank's prudential reporting. The regulator first learned of the issues in July after it identified discrepancies in the local unit's liquidity position over several years, which resulted in overstated Liquidity Coverage Ratios (LCR).

According to APRA, while the bank reported an LCR of around 160%, the actual figure was significantly lower, at times falling below the required 100% threshold. In response to the deficiencies, the bank will be required to engage an independent review to determine the root cause of the reporting failures and to evaluate its overall risk management and governance practices.

ING Australia's CEO, Melanie Evans, acknowledged the shortcomings in a separate statement, expressing regret over the existence of these issues within the organization's operations. She emphasized the bank's commitment to meeting APRA's expectations regarding risk management standards, governance, and regulatory reporting.