Payments System Board Annual Report – 2012 Liaison Activity

Liaison with Industry

The Reserve Bank consulted widely on payments, clearing and settlement issues in 2011/12. It met with various stakeholders in retail payments systems – including financial institutions, merchants, payment service providers and consumer representatives – to discuss a range of matters. Many of these discussions related to the Strategic Review of Innovation, including hosting a roundtable, and consultations were held on surcharging, eftpos regulation and operational incidents in retail payments. Meetings were also held with stakeholders in financial markets to discuss clearing and settlement (CS) issues. These included discussions related to the oversight of the licensed CS facilities and prospective reforms to the over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives market.

The Reserve Bank continued to work closely with other regulatory and government agencies. Examples include continued work on the joint ATM Taskforce with Treasury, and work undertaken by the member agencies of the Council of Financial Regulators, such as the review of financial market infrastructure regulation and OTC derivatives reform.

In line with its liaison agreement with the Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA), the Reserve Bank met with APCA management following each APCA Board meeting in 2011/12, as well as with the APCA Board on a number of occasions.

The Reserve Bank participated in a number of public fora on payments system issues. The Chairman addressed innovation, stability and the role of the Payments System Board at the APCA 20th Anniversary Symposium in May 2012. The Deputy Chairman spoke on the current agenda in retail payments regulation at the Cards and Payments Australasia conference in March 2012; and the challenge of central clearing in OTC derivatives markets at the International Swaps and Derivatives Association (ISDA) Annual Australia Conference in October 2011. Other staff attended various payments and CS industry events, including conferences and forums organised by APCA and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.

International Engagement

The Reserve Bank was represented on a number of international groups in 2011/12: the Committee on Payment and Settlement Systems (CPSS), the CLS Oversight Committee, the SWIFT Oversight Forum, the Executives' Meeting of East Asia-Pacific Central Banks (EMEAP) Working Group on Payment and Settlement Systems, and the OTC Derivatives Regulators' Forum. Involvement in the CPSS included participating in a number of working groups and contributing to the review of standards for payments, clearing and settlement systems via a seat on the review's Steering Group. The Bank also met with representatives of the World Bank as part of a review of the market for international remittances.

The Reserve Bank also engaged with overseas central banks and regulatory agencies on a less formal basis. Such engagement included discussing various issues in retail payments with relevant authorities, and keeping abreast of developments in OTC derivatives regulation around the world via discussions with various central banks and securities regulators. Engagement with global financial market stakeholders, such as ISDA, also provided useful information about developments in OTC derivatives.