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Council of Financial Regulators (CFR)

Martynas Pupkevicius
Author 
Martynas Pupkevicius
6 minutes
May 3rd, 2023
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What Is the CFR?

The CFR is the organisation that is responsible for coordinating the leading financial regulatory agencies in Australia. This promotes information sharing between various regulators to do their jobs more effectively.

The CFR does not have policy or regulatory decision-making powers, so it is a non-statutory group. The regulatory power lies with the regulators that the CFR is responsible for coordinating. It means that they might not have direct involvement in enforcing rules but have a significant indirect role.

The regulatory bodies have a bilateral coordination agreement and are supported by the Memorandums of Understanding. This allows the CFR to do its job with the backing of each regulatory body.

What Is the CFR Responsible for?

This section summarises the various responsibilities of the CFR. This enables money transfer customers to understand better how the CFR plays a role in promoting the health of the Australian financial markets.

The responsibilities of the CFR include:

  • Information: they promote the exchange of information and assist with intel where the responsibilities of regulatory bodies overlap.

  • Trends: the crucial trends and issues of the financial system are identified by the FCR and are brought to focus on ensuring that they do not negatively impact the overall stability of Australia’s financial system.

  • Regulation: they synchronise and harmonise regulatory requirements, so they are understood by all regulators.

  • Coordination: their primary role is to coordinate efforts to reduce the adverse effects of unforeseen circumstances on the economy.

  • International Work: the CFR also coordinates with international partners and bridges the gap with Australia’s regulators. They make it easier to regulate specific aspects of the financial markets – for instance, international money transfers.

The CFR is responsible for the coordination of 4 regulators, which include the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), the Treasury, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).

These are the central regulatory bodies of Australia that create new rules, enforce current ones and ensure that no criminal activity is taking place. Overall, they promote the health of the Australian economy, which should allow money transfer customers to have confidence in it.

Why Is the CFR Important?

In this section, we will cover why the CFR is an essential organisation in the context of the Australian economy. This will also inform international money transfer customers on why this organisation is noteworthy.

The CFR is an important organisation because:

  • They allow the top 4 Australian regulators to do their job more effectively. This means that indirectly they improve the ability to stop criminal activity, solve disputes, improve the functioning of money transfer systems and much more.

  • The CFR can coordinate the right aspects of each regulator concerning specific issues. This ensures that each regulator uses the right resources in the places where they will be most effective.

  • They can spot trends and potential problems in the Australian economy before anyone else. That is because the CFR has a bird’s-eye view of the economy instead of focusing on specific aspects, which is the role of regulators. This means they can warn each regulator about how to adapt their practices before an issue blows out of proportion.

  • They improve the efficiency and organisation of each regulatory body. However, the resources are limited, and only so much work can be done to stabilise and oversee the financial markets. The CFR provides advice and instruction for each regulatory body to help them improve the effectiveness of their work.

CFR Regulations

Now let us examine specific parts of CFR to understand their scope and limitations better. This provides you with a few facts that will help you understand where the CFR focuses its efforts.

  • Regulations: The Charter sets out the responsibilities of the CFR. They also use the expertise of non-member government agencies to complete their work where appropriate. There is an agreement between the regulators setting the framework for how the CFR is allowed to coordinate efforts between them.

  • Crimes: The CFR does not deal with stopping crime directly. However, they can coordinate efforts of the relevant regulatory bodies to stop crimes where they are having a significant impact on the Australian financial markets.

  • Industries: Since the CFR coordinates the four biggest regulators in Australia; then their reach extends to all sectors. This means they need to have their pulse on the entire scope of the Australian economy.

  • Accountability: The CFR is accountable to the Government of Australia, the regulators within the system, the businesses and the consumers of the financial markets. However, legal accountability lies with the Parliament.

What Regions Does the CFR Cover?

The CFR covers the entire Australian economy. This includes all geographical locations. Also, they communicate with regulators and financial institutions internationally to ensure they can complete their work coordinating Australian regulators.

When Might You Encounter the CFR?

Most money transfer consumers will not have direct contact with the CFR. That is because they have the role of coordinating the most prominent regulators in the Australian economy. Their responsibilities do not lie in interacting with the general public.

Can the CFR Make New Rules?

The CFR does not make new rules because they do not have any regulatory power. Instead, they can impact the financial markets by using the resources and powers of the regulatory bodies it is assigned to oversee. Also, new rules might be created based on their advice and involvement with various regulators.

How to Contact the CFR?

You may want to contact the CFR to learn more about how they manage regulators, so that money transfer customers are protected. Here are their official contact details:

Other Regulators

Bottom Line

To summarise, the CFR is a vital cog in the system that manages the health of the Australian economy. They have the critical role of coordinating the attention, resources and efforts of the biggest regulators in the Australian economy. This helps stabilise the economy, which is excellent news for money transfer customers.

We encourage our readers to continue learning more about various money transfer topics. You can start with Send Money To Australia and Send Money from the United States to Australia. These guides will reduce transfer times and give you access to the best FX rates for the most popular currency pairs.

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Contributors

Martynas Pupkevicius
Martynas is a versatile finance writer from Vilnius, Lithuania, boasts an impressive 10-year career, covering a wide array of subjects in the world of international finance. Martynas's approach to writing is deeply rooted in thorough research, a skill he honed while studying Chemistry at University College London.