Wayne Byres, chairman of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority was one of several financial services regulators and agencies making an appearance this week before the Senate Economics Legislation Committee.It seemed the Senators were willing to adopt a wait and see over the banking royal commission, and this was reflected in the quiet questioning of all regulators and their staff.It was more a case of the regulators asking what the Senators cn do for them.Much of Byres opening remarks yesterday recounted recent work, along with a look forward: "Continuing to look ahead, APRA's preparations are well advanced for the commencement of the Banking Executive Accountability Regime, which will begin in just over a month. "The BEAR largely strengthens APRA's existing powers to identify and address the prudential risks arising from poor governance, weak culture, or ineffective risk management. "However, I have made the point previously that while important, the BEAR alone will not remedy perceived weakness in financial sector accountability, and we have encouraged all regulated entities - not just ADIs - to use the new regime as a trigger to genuinely improve systems of governance, responsibility and accountability," Byres said.He also wanted the Senators to be satisfied that APRA was not wasting public money: "[APRA] is continuing to provide relevant information to the Royal Commission to help it in its inquiries. In addition, APRA and the Australian financial system more broadly, will be subject to intensive scrutiny from the International Monetary Fund in the weeks ahead as part of its 2018 Financial Sector Assessment Program," he said.The program, with the catchy acronym of FSAP will examine in quite some detail financial sector vulnerabilities and the quality of regulatory oversight arrangements in Australia.APRA also reminded the committee that there is plenty of stalled legislation that could be passed.James Shipton, ASIC's chair, making his first appearance, said he has formally submitted his agency's request for more funding on Monday."We want to use every inch of our powers as soon as they are made available to us."This will include the ability to hire staff without reference to all the rules of public service hiring.Cathie Armour, an ASIC Commissioner, agreed that this could see ASIC become "more agile" by hiring more specific skills for specific short-term projects.