Australia’s prudential regulator, APRA, has eased liquidity curbs on Macquarie’s banking unit, citing progress in addressing risk-control failures from 2021–22. Macquarie Group Limited (MQG.AX) is a diversified financial group providing clients with asset management and finance, banking, advisory, and risk and capital solutions across debt, equity, and commodities. Macquarie Bank can now improve its cash and funding risk management and reporting.
In 2021, the banking arm experienced repeated breaches of regulatory reporting and liquidity rules, leading APRA to impose tighter risk controls and require additional capital to ensure accurate risk reporting. The regulator is now allowing the unit to hold less additional cash and funding than before. Specifically, Macquarie Bank can reduce the net cash outflow (NCO) add-on to 15% from 25% and remove an adjustment to its available stable funding (ASF) in its net stable funding ratio calculation.
APRA stated that the bank had remediated aspects of liquidity risk management and reporting controls affecting the NCO and ASF calculations sufficiently to support a partial removal of liquidity add-on requirements. Macquarie Group acknowledged APRA’s decision but noted that a separate A$500 million operational risk capital overlay remains in place.
Shares in Macquarie slipped more than 1.5% to A$210.60 by mid-session trade, underperforming the broader market’s 0.3% decline, as investors assessed the regulatory reprieve and the bank’s compliance obligations. The changes took effect immediately, according to the regulator.
