13 September 2012 7:26am

For the third or fourth time since the formation of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, in 1998, the government is having a shot at giving it the powers – mainly relating to crisis intervention – that many may assume it already holds.

A consultation paper released yesterday by Treasury surveys the issues relating to the powers available to APRA in the event of a crisis and outlines proposals for extending those powers.

At present, its main powers centre on the appointment of a statutory manager to a failing bank, building society of credit union (a power it has...