APRA alters RCDF charity proposal
The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has changed its stance on religious charitable development funds (RCDFs) in response to submissions from stakeholders.
In a discussion paper earlier this year, APRA proposed withdrawing the RCDF exemption order, which currently says RCDFs that do ‘banking business' do not need to be registered as a deposit-taking institution or regulated by APRA.
However, the RCDFs argued alternative models would impede their ability to conduct religious or charitable pursuits.
APRA said it believes "unauthorised entities" should not be able to offer deposit products, but also does not want to restrict religious or charitable activities from RCDFs.
As a result, "APRA is proposing to extend the existing RCDF exception order, but subject to particular conditions," it said in a public statement.
"In particular, any product offer to a retail investor will have to have a minimum term or notice period of 31 days, and the use of terms ‘deposit' and ‘at-call' will not be allowed in relation to retail products or in marketing to retail investors.
"These conditions are consistent with those that APRA has recently proposed for RCDFs."
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