Prudential regulator-in-chief Wayne Byres has come a long way since he stumbled at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority’s capacity review in July with his initial public response.

Byres, who has been APRA’s chairman since July 2014 and had extended his term to July 2024 this year, showed a tin ear to the criticism found in Graeme Samuel’s capability analysis.

The Samuel review encouraged APRA to “shift the dial towards a more strategic and forceful use of communication to ensure that it maximises its impact with regulated entities.”

Four months later, it is clear that Byres took on board the request from Samuel and happily accepted it. His new policy of sharing his thoughts and experiences on governance culture remuneration, and accountability (GCRA) with the public makes this clear.

APRA said in a paper published on Tuesday that there was “scope to increase the extent of information about APRA’s GCRA activities and findings, including in relation to individual entities”.

“There is potentially scope for entities to self-disclose a greater range of information. Both of these steps will bring greater transparency to, and drive accountability for, generating sound GCRA practices and outcomes.”

APRA also announced that it would impose new standards on financial institutions, including an annual GCRA report from boards similar to the annual statements for risk management.

It will employ external consultants to assist with its assessment of banks ‘ GCRA reports and possibly follow up with more formal supervisory actions against those banks that fail to make sufficient progress in correcting deficiencies.

APRA is also considering the benefits of observing meetings of the bank board, a practice common to other jurisdictions.