Comments from Mike Smith, ANZ's chief executive and head of the Financing Growth Taskforce for the B20 summit of world business leaders, on the need lighten up on regulation to increase lending come at a time when Australia's major bank funding profiles have all improved since 2008.At least that's according to a snapshot as at July 2014 from Fitch Ratings.Fitch noted that "full Basel III rules" were implemented in Australia on 1 January 2013, although the capital conservation buffer and D-SIB charges (where applicable) will come into force on 1 January 2016, and added that "[Australia's] banks are well positioned to meet these additional buffers through internal capital generation."Stable funding rose to 75 per cent of total funding by 31 March 2014 from a low of 62 per cent in 2008, as banks paid more to attract deposits and lengthened the duration of wholesale funding. Holdings of liquid assets have also been boosted significantly. "Longer-term wholesale funding may increase as a proportion of total funding, given its reduced cost relative to deposits. Deposit mixes could also shift as banks focus more on quality and stability rather than growth," said Fitch."Nevertheless, the tendency for Australia's national savings rate to fall short of investment in the economy - dating back at least to the 1980s - means a reliance on offshore wholesale funding is likely to remain," observed Fitch.Access to wholesale funding is likely to remain the likely brake on growth in lending, according to Fitch."A rise in demand for credit - if business confidence improves - could put pressure on the banks' ability to fund growth without having a serious impact on their improved funding profiles," Fitch said.