APRA delays core data platform overhaul by six months

Australia’s prudential regulator has delayed its once-in-a-generation overhaul of the data collection platform used to determine the financial health of banks and other financial institutions.

The Prudential Regulatory Authority on Tuesday said it had temporarily suspended the project to replace its ageing core financial data system, dubbed Direct to APRA (D2A), by six months in light of the coronavirus pandemic.

D2A, which was first introduced in 2001, is currently used to determine the financial health and capital resilience of banks, insurers and superannuation funds.

It allows financial institutions to securely connect with APRA to complete and submit financial data forms for prudential reporting and compliance.

APRA has been working to replace D2A with a new data collection platform called APRA Connect since 2018 to overcome inherent limitations with the Java-based Oracle application.

In March 2019, the regulator purchased a replacement data exchange platform from regtech software provider Vizor, which was expected to be implemented by Dimension Data by March 2020.

But by July 2019, it had pushed back the go-live date to later in 2020 “due to complexities identified in the design phase, additional scope, external dependencies as well as industry feedback”.

On Tuesday, APRA said the further temporary suspension of six months would “allow financial institutions to concentrate on their businesses and assist their customers” in light of COVID-19.

“The temporary suspension of the APRA Connect project will provide some relief to entities and ensure flexibility for resourcing of work to ensure the financial resilience of entities and the provision of ongoing customer service,” the regulator said.

“APRA expects this temporary hold will last at least six months and delay all APRA Connect go live dates by at least this timeframe.

“As the external environment stabilises, APRA will advise entities when the project will restart.”

APRA Connect is expected to allow “more granular” data to be collected and strengthen “data-enabled decision-making”.

More than 4500 financial sector entities will use the platform to meet their reporting requirements to APRA when the system is switched on.

APRA is also continuing to update D2A to allow users to shift from Australian Tax Office’s PKI-base authentication solution, AUSKey, to the new myGovID digital identity credential later this week.

AUSKey which was first introduced in 2010 as part of the ATO’s standard business reporting program, will be retired on Friday.