The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority is expected to postpone discussion of any total loss-absorbing capacity (or TLAC) when it hands down a paper on "unquestionably strong" capital in the coming weeks, the AFR reports. The absence of any TLAC component will be welcomed by the banks given this debt will be more expensive to issue, and establishing any TLAC regime - intended to reduce the cost to taxpayers in future bank bailouts - could prompt global ratings agencies to cut their ratings on the banks because it makes it less likely the government will need to be a backstop for banks in a crisis.