The Australian Prudential Regulation......>

AUSTRALIA: The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has released a

new reporting standard to collect data from financial institutions taking part

in the Federal Government's Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme. Reporting standard

ARS 920.0 Australian Government Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Guarantee

Scheme must be completed weekly by all lenders that are approved under the

scheme. Under the Coronavirus SME Guarantee Scheme, the Government will provide

a guarantee of 50 per cent to small and medium enterprise (SME) lenders for new

unsecured loans to be used for working capital. APRA's new reporting standard

will support the scheme by providing data to Government on key metrics including

number of loans approved, number of loans impaired, and number of guarantee

claims made and paid. Due to the need to provide this data to the Government

promptly, APRA has had to eschew its usual consultation process for new

reporting standards in this instance. The first data collection is due on 1 May

for information as at 17 April 2020.