APRA has set itself an "ambitious agenda" for monitoring governance, culture, remuneration and accountability - or GCRA - among the expanded range of entities it now supervises. The Royal Commission highlighted "a range of shortcomings in relation to GCRA when it came to conduct and behaviour in the financial system," Wayne Byres, Australian Prudential Regulation Authority chairman, conceded in a speech at the Australian Banking Association's National Economic Series in Sydney yesterday. APRA's own capability review also concluded the prudential regulator needed to do more to broaden its focus in relation to GCRA, set more robust standards, and intensify its scrutiny and challenge of financial institutions. Byres listed the three components that will be activated to achieve its agenda as:•    strengthening the prudential framework - moving from largely principles-based to become, at least in places, more prescriptive - for example,  new draft arrangements include specific limits, such as a maximum cap on the use of financial metrics within variable remuneration;•    sharpening supervision of GCRA, using additional funding approved by the Government to bolster the resources devoted to GCRA-related activities, including boosting staff numbers; and•    sharing insights and findings with industry and the broader community, actively looking to expand the range of material published on key areas of supervisory focus (not just in relation to GCRA), and associated findings. A major strengthening of the regulatory framework will come from the Government's plans to extend the BEAR beyond the ADI sector, and to encapsulate conduct-related matters, Byres said.He also challenged  the "various stakeholders - managers, directors, investors, shareholders - [who] have each found something to seriously dislike ... to provide us with an alternative to our proposals that isn't just the status quo, because outcomes from the status quo have been found unacceptable".Other areas slated for particular attention include CPS 510 Governance. "In rethinking CPS 510, our goal will be to not add materially to an already long list of responsibilities and duties, but rather to consider how we can best equip and enable boards to perform existing roles well," Byres said.APRA will also be reviewing CPS 220 Risk Management, covering the effectiveness of board obligations to take account of risk culture, the relative emphasis on financial and non-financial risks, and the clear need to strengthen the compliance and audit functions requirements. "We will be seeking to go beyond assessing the adequacy of policies and frameworks to make sure we are also assessing effectiveness and outcomes," Byres said."We will also be examining the sorts of information institutions themselves should routinely make public."