APRA Hits ING With $50m Capital Add-on for Liquidity Errors

Australia's sixth-largest mortgage lender must hold extra capital and commission independent reviews after years of inflated liquidity reporting.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority has taken firm action against ING Bank Australia after the lender self-reported a serious, long-running error in how it calculated its liquidity position. Australian Broker reports that ING notified the regulator in July that it had found material miscalculations stretching back several years, which had significantly overstated its liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) — a key measure of a bank's ability to withstand short-term cash outflows.

What APRA Found and Why It Matters

While ING had been reporting an LCR of around 160%, its actual figure was materially lower. At certain points, the true ratio fell below the 100% minimum set out in Prudential Standard APS 210 — the floor APRA requires all Australian authorised deposit-taking institutions to maintain. ING has since lifted its liquidity buffers well above the regulatory minimum, but the consequences have been significant.

APRA deputy chair Therese McCarthy Hockey was direct in her assessment. "When a bank cannot accurately measure one of its most important financial safeguards, it raises fundamental questions about the effectiveness of its risk management and controls," McCarthy Hockey said. "APRA is therefore acting decisively to ensure ING rectifies these weaknesses expediently."

The regulator still regards ING as financially resilient overall, but it has made clear this is not a simple administrative slip. ING has more than two million customers and over $100 billion in assets. McCarthy Hockey noted that scale creates a baseline expectation for strong internal controls: "As such, APRA expects it to have robust governance and internal controls to support its financial and operational resilience."

What ING Must Do Now

APRA has imposed a package of remediation measures that will remain in place until the regulator is satisfied the underlying issues have been resolved. Under the new licence conditions, ING must:

- Commission independent reviews into what caused the liquidity reporting failure, and examine its broader risk management and governance practices - Develop a remediation plan and obtain independent assurance that fixes have been embedded in practice - Hold a $50 million operational risk capital add-on, reflecting APRA's heightened concerns about operational risk and potential wider weaknesses in its prudential reporting - Meet lifted minimum liquidity requirements while remediation is underway

The $50 million capital add-on is notable because it signals APRA's view that governance weaknesses at ING may extend beyond the liquidity reporting issue. The regulator has not indicated the bank is in financial difficulty — but it has moved to price in the uncertainty while the reviews are conducted.

What This Means for ING Home Loan Customers

This story carries particular weight in the home loan market because of how ING operates. Around 95% of ING's home loans were originated through the broker channel as of last year, according to Australian Broker. That broker-heavy approach has been central to ING's growth, helping it become Australia's sixth-largest mortgage lender with its loan book growing more than 11% year-on-year — outpacing the average of the major banks.

For existing ING borrowers, APRA's own view is that the bank remains financially sound. The capital add-on and liquidity measures are remediation requirements, not distress signals. Depositors and existing borrowers are not at acute risk. But the governance concerns APRA has raised are real, and the regulator will be watching closely.

What's worth monitoring is whether the remediation process leads ING to adjust its credit appetite or product terms while it works through internal reviews. Banks under active regulatory scrutiny occasionally pull back on certain lending categories in the short term. If you're due for a fixed rate rollover or considering whether to refinance in the next six to twelve months, it's worth checking in with a broker about whether your current lender remains the right fit for your circumstances.

For a concrete view of what switching might save, our refinance savings calculator is a useful starting point. If you're comparing what's available across the market right now, home loan listings are updated regularly across fixed and variable options.

The Broader Regulatory Message

APRA's response to the ING matter reflects the regulator's current posture across the sector: moving swiftly to require independent reviews and impose financial consequences when governance gaps emerge, rather than waiting for larger failures to develop. APRA deputy chair McCarthy Hockey's language — "fundamental questions about the effectiveness of its risk management" — signals this is being treated seriously.

For borrowers, the practical takeaway is straightforward: lenders operate under heavy regulatory scrutiny, and when regulators move, it pays to stay informed about what it means for your own loan. Keeping your mortgage regularly reviewed — at least annually — is the most reliable way to ensure your product still reflects your financial needs and what is genuinely competitive in the current market.

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