Australian banks "need to continue to improve their capital ratios in order to at least maintain, if not improve, their relative positioning" against globally active banks, APRA said in a commentary published at its website this week.In its quarterly Insight publication the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority provided an update on a 2015 study that adjusted for differences in measurement methodology across jurisdictions and found that the Australian major banks were well-capitalised, "but not in the top quartile of international peers."APRA acknowledged that Australia's major banks "have undertaken significant capital raisings since the 2015 study, which has significantly improved their capital adequacy [but] the trend of international peer banks strengthening their capital ratios continues. "Forthcoming international policy developments will also likely mean that Australian banks need to continue to improve their capital ratios in order to at least maintain, if not improve, their relative positioning," APRA said.It said the "final design and calibration of these reforms will not be decided until around the end of 2016, and it would be prudent for Australian ADIs to continue to plan for the likelihood of strengthened capital requirements in some areas, relative to international peers."But it added: "The trend of international peer banks strengthening their capital ratios continues."APRA said that since the 2015 study the relative position of the major banks' weighted average comparison capital ratios "have improved" compared to international banks.The prudential regulator said the Australian banking sector's "comparison tier one ratio of 14.8 per cent is positioned in the top quartile as compared to the third quartile as at June 2014."It said the "comparison total capital ratio of 16 per cent is positioned at the bottom of the top quartile as compared to the median of the distribution as at June 2014."Finally, it said the relative position of the major banks' tier one leverage ratio of 5.4 per cent "has also increased to a level above the median (but still below the top quartile)" in comparison with global banks.