In what has to be one of the worst speech titles for a while (Some Australian Perspectives on Procyclicality) Wayne Byres, Executive General Manager, Diversified Institutions Division APRA, has delivered an interesting analysis of the banking industry’s ability to cope with economic cycles and the ability of APRA, as regulator, to influence that response.

He discusses the benefits of enforcement (eg APRA’s response to NAB’s forex losses), good governance, provisioning and capital adequacy in dealing with cycles.