This report details the activities AUSTRAC have undertaken in the 2018-19 financial year to work with industry and partner agencies in the development and modernisation of our regulatory approach.

While RegTech in its many forms, from expert rule-based systems for compliance automation to artificial intelligence for reporting and compliance analysis, has the potential to revolutionise a regulator’s job, it comes with its own set of legal challenges.

Risk climate (or risk culture) has become an increasingly important focus since the 2007-09 financial crisis. Despite efforts to inculcate risk climate, unethical pro-organisational behaviour (UPB) such as misconduct toward customers continues to occur. This study investigates whether four risk climate factors (avoidance, valued, proactive and manager) can reduce UPB misconduct.

This paper explores the recent applications of blockchain technology in financial services and outlines regulatory responses, to set the scene for future work in this area on corporate governance.

APRA undertakes a program of regular policy review to ensure that the regulatory framework on which its prudential supervision is based remains fit for purpose. This paper sets out APRA's policy agenda for the next 12 to 18 months.