APRA imposes licence conditions on ING Bank over liquidity breaches

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has imposed additional licence conditions on ING Bank (Australia) Limited (ABN 24 000 893 292) after the bank reported breaches of its liquidity coverage ratio and errors in its capital and liquidity reporting. The instrument, dated 2 September 2026 and registered in the Commonwealth of Australia Gazette on 4 September 2026, came into force on 3 September 2026.

The conditions were imposed by Shieh Ling Wong, General Manager of APRA’s General Insurance and Banking Division, acting as a delegate of the regulator under subsection 9AA(1)(a) of the Banking Act 1959. The decision is published as Government Notices Gazette C2026G00589.

Background to the enforcement action

The action follows what the instrument calls the “LCR Breaches” — breaches of the liquidity coverage ratio reported by the bank to APRA on 24 July 2026, together with related errors communicated on 13 July, 4 August, 5 August and 20 August 2026. APRA also cites “Additional Prudential Concerns” set out in its letter to the bank dated 24 August 2026.

The conditions reference the bank’s Risk Excellence (RX) Program, established in August 2021 to address an independent review of its Risk Management Framework, and note that prudential issues have continued to emerge despite the program reaching its integration stage.

Independent review and remediation

The bank must propose, within 30 business days, one or more independent reviewers for APRA’s written approval, and engage them at its own cost. The independent review must cover the root causes of the liquidity breaches, the adequacy of the bank’s liquidity risk reporting framework, the accuracy of its capital and liquidity prudential reporting, and its governance, risk culture and control environment.

• A draft independent review report must be delivered within 80 business days of the approved scope of engagement.
• The bank must develop a remediation plan addressing the root causes and deficiencies identified.
• The plan must be approved by the IBAL Board and implemented no later than two years after that approval.
• An independent expert must provide assurance that the remediation changes are appropriately designed, effectively implemented and operating as intended.

Accountability and attestations

The conditions require the bank to reflect the obligations in the Accountability Statements of relevant Accountable Persons under the Financial Accountability Regime Act 2023. Within 10 business days of receiving the final assurance report, attestations must be provided to APRA by the relevant Accountable Persons, the Chair of the IBAL Board, and the Chair of the Board Risk Committee or Board Audit Committee.

The bank must also consider the discharge of these responsibilities when assessing the suitability, performance and variable remuneration of Accountable Persons, Senior Managers and other employees involved. APRA may reconsider the decision on written request within 21 days, and the bank may apply to the Administrative Review Tribunal if dissatisfied with the outcome.

Why it matters

The conditions signal a tougher enforcement posture by APRA toward liquidity and reporting governance at Australian banks. For ING customers, the measures are designed to strengthen the bank’s liquidity risk management and reporting accuracy, with remediation and independent assurance to be completed within two years.

Source: Commonwealth of Australia Gazette, Government Notices, 4 September 2026, p. 1 (official reference: C2026G00589).