$5bn of assets in 'intensive care'
Prudential regulator APRA revealed on Friday it had around $5 billion of assets handled within its "two highest categories for regulatory intervention."Wayne Byres, chair of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, told a hearing of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics in Canberra on Friday that of 481 distinct entities supervised by APRA, "only 11 - representing around one-tenth of one per cent of industry assets - are in the intensive care ward, so to speak."The hearing was Byres first public appearance as head of APRA, having returned from the Basel Committee on Banking Supervision recently.Byres said the remainder of the finance sector supervised by APRA was "broadly in good health."He singled out three themes for focus, only one in banking."We have made it clear we are watching housing lending standards with great interest," he said.Byres also mentioned rising claims on group life policies and the transition of superannuation to a new prudential regime.APRA's submission to the Financial System Inquiry show it steered the "restructure" of 55 entities over the last ten years, 41 of which left the industry (through merger, presumably).