Financial Stability Review Focus Topics and Boxes

Starting in the October 2023 issue, the Financial Stability Review includes a Focus Topics chapter that provides complementary insights on key issues relevant to the Financial Stability Assessment. The content of these notes tend be analytical. Prior to this, boxes provided a similar function; however, now they are used as breakaway explainers that are closely related to the main text.

2025

April

• 4.1 Focus Topic: A Conceptual Framework for Assessing Financial Stability
• 4.2 Focus Topic: Looking at Digitalisation through a Financial Stability Lens
• 4.3 Focus Topic: The Recent Increase in Company Insolvencies and its Implications for Financial Stability

2024

September

• 4.1 Focus Topic: Financial Stability Implications of Artificial Intelligence

March

• 4.1 Focus Topic: Scenario Analysis of the Resilience of Mortgagors and Businesses to Higher Inflation and Interest Rates

2023

October

• 5.1 Focus Topic: Vulnerabilities in China’s Financial System
• 5.2 Focus Topic: An Update on Fixed-rate Borrowers
• 5.3 Focus Topic: Indicators of Household Financial Stress
• 5.4 Focus Topic: Interest Rate Risk
• 5.5 Focus Topic: Operational Risk in a Digital World

April

• Box A: Recent International Bank Failures – Causes, Regulatory Responses and Implications
  Download 454KB
• Box B: Scenario Analysis on Indebted Households’ Spare Cash Flows and Prepayment Buffers
  Download 414KB

2022

October

• Box A: Financial Stability Risks from Crypto-assets
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• Box B: The Impact of Rising Interest Rates and Inflation on Indebted Households’ Cash Flows
  Download 297KB
• Box C: Financial Stress and Contagion Risks in the Residential Construction Industry
  Download 416KB
• Box D: Stress Testing and Australian Bank Resilience
  Download 216KB

April

• Box A: International Banks' Response to Climate Risk
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• Box B: How Risky is High DTI and High LVR Lending?
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• Box C: Building Resilience to Cyber Risks
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2021

October

• Box A: Australian Financial Regulators' Actions on Climate Change-related Risks
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April

• Box A: The Transition Away from LIBOR
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• Box B: Risks in Retail Commercial Property
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• Box C: What did 2020 Reveal about Liquidity Challenges Facing Superannuation Funds?
  Download 266KB

2020

October

• Box A: Risks from Investment Funds and the COVID-19 Pandemic
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• Box B: Business Failure Risk in the COVID-19 Pandemic
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• Box C: The Use of Banks' Capital Buffers
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April

There are no boxes in the April 2020 issue.

2019

October

• Box A: Household Sector Risks in China
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• Box B: Housing Loan Arrears – Insights From Western Australia
  Download 265KB
• Box C: Financial Stability Risks From Climate Change
  Download 285KB

April

• Box A: Risks in Non-bank Lending in India
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• Box B: Housing Price Falls and Negative Equity
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• Box C: Risks in High-density Apartment Markets
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• Box D: Non-bank Lending for Property
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• Box E: The 2018 Financial Sector Assessment Program (FSAP) Review of Australia
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2018

October

• Box A: Ongoing Financial Regulatory Reform in China
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• Box B: The Impact of Lending Standards on Loan Sizes
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• Box C: Vulnerable Households and Financial Stress
  Download 130KB
• Box D: Cyber Risk
  Download 60KB
• Box E: The Council of Financial Regulators
  Download 63KB

April

• Box A: Low Interest Rates and Asset Price Risk
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• Box B: Recent Trends in Personal Credit
  Download 153KB
• Box C: Interest Rate Risk in the Australian Financial System
  Download 126KB
• Box D: The New Payments Platform and Fast Settlement Service
  Download 56KB
• Box E: Reforms to the Basel III Capital Framework
  Download 100KB

2017

October

• Box A: Risks in International Housing Markets
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• Box B: Households’ Investment Property Exposures: Insights from Tax Data
  Download 161KB
• Box C: Large Falls in Household Income
  Download 120KB
• Box D: Stress Testing at the Reserve Bank
  Download 109KB

April

• Box A: Bank Restructuring Challenges: A Case Study of Italy
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• Box B: Interest-only Mortgage Lending
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• Box C: Characteristics of Highly Indebted Households
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2016

October

• Box A: Recent Growth of Small and Medium-sized Chinese Banks
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• Box B: Banks' Exposures to Inner-city Apartment Markets
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• Box C: Recent Developments in Australian Banks' Capital Position and Return on Equity
  Download 233KB

April

• Box A: Asset Performance in the Chinese Banking Sector
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• Box B: Chinese Demand for Australian Property
  Download 217KB
• Box C: The Countercyclical Capital Buffer
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• Box D: Trade Compression
  Download 189KB

2015

October

• Box A: Effects of Low Yields on Life Insurers and Pension Funds
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• Box B: The Recent Growth in Banks' Commercial Property Exposures
  Download 48KB
• Box C: The Regulatory Capital Framework for Residential Mortgages
  Download 48KB

March

• Box A: The Basel III Liquidity Reforms in Australia
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• Box B: Responses to Risks in the Housing and Mortgage Markets
  Download 48KB

2014

September

• Box A: Recent Trends in the Issuance of Basel III Compliant Contingent Capital Instruments
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• Box B: Australian Major Banks' Cost-to-income Ratios
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• Box C: Households' Investment Property Exposures: Evidence from Tax and Survey Data
  Download 255KB

March

• Box A: Non-performing Loans at Asian Banks
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2013

September

• Box A: Recent Developments in Net Interest Income in the Chinese Banking System
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• Box B: The Basel III Capital Reforms in Australia
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• Box C: Lenders Mortgage Insurance
  Download 588KB
• Box D: Self-managed Superannuation Funds
  Download 606KB

March

• Box A: Australian Bank Activity in Asia
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• Box B: The Financial Condition of Companies Servicing the Mining Sector
  Download 382KB

2012

September

• Box A: Funding Composition of Banks in Australia
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• Box B: Households' Mortgage Prepayment Buffers
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March

• Box A: Foreign-owned Bank Activity in Australia
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• Box B: Home Mortgage Debt: Recent Insights from the HILDA Survey
  Download 156KB
• Box C: Global Systemically Important Banks
  Download 99KB
• Box D: A Closer Look at the Shadow Banking System in Australia
  Download 147KB

2011

September

• Box A: European Bank Stress Tests
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• Box B: The Global Reinsurance Industry
  Download 159KB
• Box C: A Closer Look at Housing Loan Arrears
  Download 173KB

March

• Box A: Covered Bonds
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• Box B: Reinsurance and the Australian General Insurance Industry
  Download 161KB
• Box C: Household Experiences in the Downturn: Evidence from the HILDA Survey
  Download 140KB

2010

September

• Box A: Banking Systems in Greece, Portugal and Spain
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• Box B: The Shadow Banking System in Australia
  Download 184KB

March

• Box A: Global Recovery Rates on Corporate Defaults
  Download 89KB
• Box B: Foreign Currency Exposure and Hedging Practices of Australian Banks
  Download 137KB

2009

September

• Box A: Bank's Provisioning
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• Box B: Measurement of Housing Arrears
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• Box C: Equity Raisings and Company Gearing
  Download 142KB

March

• Box A: Government Guarantees on Deposits and Wholesale Funding
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• Box B: Central Clearing of Over-the-counter Credit Derivatives
  Download 100KB

2008

September

• Box A: Australian Listed Property Trusts
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March

• Box A: Financial Guaranty Insurers (Monolines)
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• Box B: The ABX.HE Credit Default Swap Indices
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• Box C: Survey-based Indicators of Household Finances
  Download 54KB
• Box D: Market Risk in the Household Asset Portfolio
  Download 54KB

2007

September

• Box A: The Australian Asset-backed Commercial Paper Market
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• Box B: Arrears and Repossessions
  Download 50KB

March

• Box A: Developments in the US Sub-prime Mortgage Market
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• Box B: Disaggregated Analysis of Owner-occupier Housing Debt and Assets
  Download 37KB
• Box C: Foreign-owned Banks in Australia
  Download 57KB

2006

September

• Box A: International Financial Reporting Standards
  Download 49KB
• Box B: Interest-only Housing Loans
  Download 47KB

March

• Box A: International Commercial Property Developments
  Download 48KB
• Box B: Competition in Household Lending in New Zealand and the United Kingdom
  Download 31KB
• Box C: Foreign Currency Exposure and Hedging Practices of Australian Banks
  Download 38KB

2005

September

• Box A: Rates of Indebted Home Ownership
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• Box B: Developments in the Low-doc Loan Market
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• Box C: Options Markets and the Expected Volatility of Bank Share Prices
  Download 54KB
• Box D: Core Principles for Systemically Important Payment Systems
  Download 32KB

March

• Box A: A Disaggregated Analysis of Household Financial Exposures
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• Box B: Variable Interest Rates on Housing Loans
  Download 53KB
• Box C: Non-conforming Housing Loans
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• Box D: Estimates of Borrowing Capacity from Banks' Online Housing Loan Calculators
  Download 43KB
• Box E: Financial Soundness Indicators
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2004

September

• Box A: Credit Card Indicators
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• Box B: The Housing Market Slowdown in the Netherlands
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• Box C: Measures of Housing Loan Quality
  Download 113KB
• Box D: The Characteristics of Loans Originated by Mortgage Brokers
  Download 104KB

March

• Box A: Tax Data on Households' Property Investment Exposures
  Download 71KB
• Box B: The Use of Debt Agreements as an Alternative to Personal Bankruptcy
  Download 67KB