Watchdog’s loan alert

Lenders told they must reveal all on repayments holiday

AUSTRALIA’S banking watchdog says lenders must account for possible loss from the loan repayment holidays they offered borrowers affected by the coronavirus last week to ensure banks keep stakeholders informed of action taken amid the outbreak.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority said banks must publicly disclose the volume of such loans as well as the nature and terms of any repayment deferral.

Banks do not need to classify the loans as being in arrears, APRA said.

Measures to combat the health and economic impact of the outbreak are threatening the $3.9 trillion loan books of the country’s four largest banks that dominate 80 per cent of the market.

Last week, the banks announced coronavirus support packages that provide affected borrowers — mainly small businesses and home loan customers — with an option to defer repayment for up to six months.

Shares in Commonwealth Bank, Westpac, National Australia Bank and ANZ have fallen as much as 31 per cent to 42 per cent in the month since coronavirus cases began spreading beyond China.

The Government and regulators have also provided banks with several tools to ensure they can keep funding Australians who, just as in the rest of the world, have been forced to abruptly halt economic activity.

The measures for banks include an emergency interest rate cut, $90 billion in ultracheap 0.25 per cent funding for three years for small business loans, and a guarantee of up to $20 billion on business loan losses.

Banks have not passed on the emergency rate cut to variable home loan customers, nor the ultra-cheap funding to businesses in full.

Instead, they have agreed to provide the option to defer loan repayment for six months and capitalise the interest, lowered some loan interest rates and raised selected deposit rates.

Driven mainly by impairment in business loans — about a quarter of the four banks’ loan books — the banks are likely to see bad debt charges of $15 billion to $20 billion in the next 12 months, or about 33 per cent to 55 per cent of total loans, analyst estimates showed.

By not passing on the lower rates in full to most customers, the banks are able to protect their profit, analysts said.

APRA said it will advise banks of the specific reporting treatment for loans that are subject to support arrangements.

APRA also said it had suspended most of its planned policy and supervision initiatives in response to the rapidly spreading infectious disease.

Securities watchdog ASIC announced it will suspend its enhanced on-site supervisory work and other activities that are not “time-critical”.