{"id":"C1953L00105","name":"Commonwealth Bank Regulations","slug":"c1953l00105","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"105 of 1953","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":320634,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1953L00105-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-08","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commonwealth Bank Regulations","content":"STATUTORY RULES.\n\n1953\\. No. 105\n\n![](image.001.png)REGULATIONS UNDER THE COMMONWEALTH BANK ACT 1945-1953.\\*\n\nI, THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL in and over the Commonwealth of Australia, acting with the advice of the Federal Executive Council, hereby make the following Regulations under the Commonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nDated this thirtieth\n\nday of November , 1953.\n\nW. J. Slim\n\nGovernor-General.\n\nBy His Excellency’s Command,\n\n![Signature of A.W. Fadden](image.002.png)\n\nTreasurer.\n\n![](image.003.png)Commonwealth Bank Regulations.\n\nCitation.\n\n1. These Regulations may be cited as the Commonwealth Bank Regulations.\n\nCommencement.\n\n2. These Regulations shall come into operation on the third day of December, One thousand nine hundred and fifty-three.\n\nRepeal.\n\n3. The Commonwealth Bank Regulations (comprising Statutory Rules 1945, No. 128; Statutory Rules 1946, No. 188; Statutory Rules 1947, No. 131; Statutory Rules 1951, Nos. 41 and 88; and Statutory Rules 1952, Nos. 16 and 112) are repealed.\n\nInterpretation.\n\n4.—(1.) In these Regulations, “the Act” means the Commonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\n(2.) In these Regulations, a reference to a form by letter shall be read as a reference to the form so lettered in the Schedule to these Regulations.\n\nOffice hours.\n\n5. Branches and agencies of the Commonwealth Bank shall be open for the transaction of business on such days and during such hours as the Bank determines.\n\nInformation to be furnished by customers.\n\n![](image.004.png)6. The Commonwealth Bank may require a person who wishes to transact banking business with the Bank to furnish to the Bank particulars of his name, address and occupation and such other particulars as, in the opinion of the Bank, are necessary to enable the Bank to conduct that business properly.\n\n\\* Notified in the Commonwealth Gazette on , 1953.\n\n5167.—Price 5d. 10/26.11.1953.\n\n \nBank not bound to inquire as to manner of operating on accounts, &c.\n\n7. The Commonwealth Bank shall not be under a liability by reason of its failure to ascertain that the method in accordance with which a firm, company, society, local authority, club or other body of persons desires to operate on an account, to deal with a security or to transact any other business with the Bank is in accordance with any deed, articles, rules or other instrument of the firm, company, society, local authority, club or body.\n\nPowers of attorney, &c.\n\n8. When any business is to be transacted with the Commonwealth Bank under a power of attorney, probate of a will or letters of administration of an estate, the Bank may require the original power of attorney, probate or letters of administration to be produced to the Bank and may require a copy of the power of attorney, probate or letters of administration to be lodged with the Bank.\n\nDeclaration of secrecy.\n\n9. The declaration of secrecy referred to in section 15 of the Act shall be in accordance with Form A.\n\nSecrecy.\n\n10. An officer, agent or other person carrying on any business of the Commonwealth Bank shall not—\n\n(a) permit any person to have access to, or furnish to any person copies of or extracts from, books or papers belonging to, or in the possession of, the Bank; or\n\n(b) furnish to any person any information relating to the business of the Bank, other than information furnished to or on the order of a customer in respect of his own matters,\n\nexcept by direction or authority of the Bank or under compulsion or obligation of law.\n\nBalance-sheets and statements of profit and loss of the Bank and its Departments.\n\n11. Balance-sheets and statements of profit and loss prepared under sub-section (1.) of section 195 of the Act shall be—\n\n(a) in the case of the Commonwealth Bank—in accordance with the form of balance-sheet and the form of statement of profit and loss respectively set out in Form B;\n\n(b) in the case of the Note Issue Department of the Commonwealth Bank—in accordance with the form of balance-sheet and the form of statement of profit and loss respectively set out in Form C;\n\n(c) in the case of the Rural Credits Department of the Commonwealth Bank—in accordance with the form of balance-sheet and the form of statement of profit and loss respectively set out in Form D;\n\n(d) in the case of the Mortgage Bank Department of the Commonwealth Bank—in accordance with the form of balance-sheet and the form of statement of profit and loss respectively set out in Form E; and\n\n(e) in the case of the Industrial Finance Department of the Commonwealth Bank—in accordance with the form of balance-sheet and the form of statement of profit and loss respectively set out in Form F.\n\n \nBalance-sheets and statements of profit and loss relating to central banking business.\n\n12.—(1.) The Governor shall, once in each year, prepare a balance-sheet and a statement of profit and loss of the central banking business carried on by the Commonwealth Bank under Part V. of the Act.\n\n(2.) Balance-sheets and statements of profit and loss prepared under the last preceding sub-regulation shall be in accordance with the form of balance-sheet and the form of statement of profit and loss respectively set out in Form G.\n\n(3.) The Governor shall—\n\n(a) submit each balance-sheet and statement of profit and loss prepared under this regulation to the Auditor-General for report as to their correctness or otherwise;\n\n(b) after receiving the report of the Auditor-General, transmit the balance-sheet and statement of profit and loss, together with the report, to the Treasurer; and\n\n(c) transmit true copies of the balance-sheet, the statement of profit and loss and the report to the President of the Senate and to the Speaker of the House of Representatives to be laid before the Senate and the House of Representatives, respectively.\n\nReturns of notes held.\n\n13. The returns referred to in section 46 of the Act shall be in accordance with Form H.\n\nPrimary produce.\n\n![](image.005.png)![](image.005.png)14. For the purposes of the definition of “primary produce” in section 5 of the Act, primary produce includes ores, concentrates of ores, peanut products, poultry, cider, fruit juices, fruit extracts, fruit cordials, fruit liqueurs, grass seeds, copra, coconut, desiccated coconut, coconut oil and other copra products.\n\n![](image.006.png)THE SCHEDULE.\n\nForm A. Regulation 9.\n\nCommonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nDECLARATION OF SECRECY.\n\nI, of , being a member of the Commonwealth Bank Board appointed under the Commonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953, do solemnly and sincerely declare that I will at all times maintain secrecy in relation to the affairs of the Board, the Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia and the Commonwealth Savings Bank of Australia, and, in particular, that I will not directly or indirectly communicate or divulge any information which comes to my knowledge in the performance of my functions as a member of the Board except by authority of the Board or under compulsion or obligation of law.\n\n(Signature of declarant.)\n\nDeclared at the day of , 19 .\n\nBefore me,\n\nJustice of the Peace\n\nor\n\nCommissioner for taking Affidavits.\n\nForm B. Regulation 11.\n\nCommonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nCOMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA.\n\nAggregate Balance-sheet as at\n\n```html\n

Liabilities.

Assets.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

Capital....................

Gold and balances held abroad (including money at short call)

Reserve Funds...............

Special Reserve—Premium on gold sold

Australian notes and coin .......

Cheques and bills of other banks

Notes on issue...............

Commonwealth Government Securities (including Commonwealth Treasury Bills)

Deposits, bills payable and other liabilities (including provision for contingencies)

Securities of other governments and of local and semi-governmental authorities

Bills receivable and remittances in transit

Bank premises (at cost less amounts written off)

Loans, advances, bills discounted and other assets (after deducting provision for debts considered bad or doubtful)

Total ...............

Total ...............

\n```\n\nNote.—Inter-departmental accounts totalling £ have been offset.\n\nStatement of Profit and Loss for. Year Ended\n\n```html\n

Dr.

Cr.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

Central Banking Business—

By Profits (after provision for contingencies)—

To National Debt Sinking Fund ..

Central Banking Business

Note Issue Department .........

To Commonwealth Bank Reserve Fund

Rural Credits Department

Mortgage Bank Department ......

To Commonwealth Trading Bank Capital Account

Industrial Finance Department ....

To Rural Credits Department Capital Account

To Mortgage Bank Department Capital Account ..

To Industrial Finance Department Capital Account

Note Issue Department—

To Commonwealth Trading Bank Capital Account

To Rural Credits Department Capital Account

To Mortgage Bank Department Capital Account

To Industrial Finance Department Capital Account

To Commonwealth Treasury

Rural Credits Department—

To Rural Credits Department Reserve Fund

To Rural Credits Development Fund

Mortgage Bank Department—

To Mortgage Bank Department Reserve Fund

Industrial Finance Department—

To Industrial Finance Department Reserve Fund

Total .....................

Total .....................

\n```\n\nForm C. Regulation 11.\n\nCommonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nCOMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA.\n\nNOTE ISSUE DEPARTMENT.\n\nBalance-sheet as at.\n\n```html\n

Liabilities.

Assets.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

Notes on issue* .............

Gold and balances held abroad (including money at short call)

Special Reserve—

Premium on gold sold .......

Other liabilities* ............

Government securities (including Commonwealth Treasury Bills)

Other assets ...............

Total ..............

Total ..............

\n```\n\n\\* Notes of a denomination not exceeding One pound which have been on issue for more than twenty years and notes of a denomination exceeding One pound which have been on issue for more than forty years are not included in the item “Notes on issue” but are included in the item “Other liabilities”.\n\nStatement of Profit and Loss for Year Ended\n\n```html\n

Dr.

Cr.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

To Commonwealth Trading Bank Capital Account

By Profits .................

To Rural Credits Department Capital Account

To Mortgage Bank Department Capital Account

To Industrial Finance Department Capital Account

To Commonwealth Treasury

Total ..............

Total ....................

\n```\n\n![](image.007.png)\n\nForm D. Regulation 11.\n\nCommonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nCOMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA.\n\nRURAL CREDITS DEPARTMENT.\n\nBalance-sheet as at\n\n```html\n

Liabilities.

Assets.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

Capital ....................

Cash balances ...............

Reserve Fund ................

Securities of governments and of local and semi-governmental authorities (including Commonwealth Treasury Bills)

Development Fund ............

Other liabilities (including provision for contingencies)

Loans, advances and other assets (after deducting provision for debts considered bad or doubtful)

Total ..............

Total ..............

\n```\n\n \n\nStatement of Profit and Loss for Year Ended\n\n```html\n

Dr.

Cr.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

To Rural Credits Department Reserve Fund

By Profits (after provision for contingencies)

To Rural Credits Development Fund

Total ..............

Total ..............

\n```\n\n![](image.007.png)Form E. Regulation 11.\n\nCommonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nCOMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA.\n\nMORTGAGE BANK DEPARTMENT.\n\nBalance-sheet as at\n\n```html\n

Liabilities.

Assets.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

Capital ...................

Cash balances ..............

Reserve Fund ...............

Securities of governments and of local and semi-governmental authorities (including Commonwealth Treasury Bills)

Other liabilities (including provision for contingencies)

Loans, advances and other assets (after deducting provision for debts considered bad or doubtful)

Total ..............

Total ..............

\n```\n\nStatement of Profit and Loss for Year Ended\n\n```html\n

Dr.

Cr.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

To Mortgage Bank Department Reserve Fund

By Profits (after provision for contingencies)

Total ..............

Total ..............

\n```\n\n \n\nForm F. Regulation 11.\n\nCommonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nCOMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA.\n\nINDUSTRIAL FINANCE DEPARTMENT.\n\nBalance-sheet as at\n\n```html\n

Liabilities.

Assets.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

Capital ...................

Cash balances

Reserve Fund ...............

Securities of governments and of local and semi-governmental authorities (including Commonwealth Treasury Bills) .. .. ..

Other liabilities (including provision for contingencies)

Loans, advances, shares, debentures and other assets (after deducting provision for debts considered bad or doubtful)

Total ..............

Total ..............

\n```\n\nStatement of Profit and Loss for Year Ended\n\n```html\n

Dr.

Cr.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

To Industrial Finance Department Reserve Fund

By Profits (after provision for contingencies)

Total ..............

Total ..............

\n```\n\n![](image.007.png)Form G. Regulation 12.\n\nCommonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nCOMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA.\n\nCENTRAL BANKING BUSINESS.\n\nBalance-sheet as at\n\n```html\n

Liabilities.

Assets.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

Capital ...................

Gold and balances held abroad (including money at short call)

Reserve Fund ..............

Deposits—

Special accounts of trading banks

Australian notes and coin .........

Cheques and bills of other banks

Other deposits of trading banks .

Commonwealth Government Securities (including Commonwealth Treasury Bills)

Other (including provision for contingencies)

Securities of other governments and of local and semi-governmental authorities

Other liabilities ...........

Bills receivable and remittances in transit

Bank premises (at cost less amounts written off)

Other assets ..................

Total ..............

Total ..............

\n```\n\n \n\nStatement of Profit and Loss for Year Ended\n\n```html\n

Dr.

Cr.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

To National Debt Sinking Fund ....

By Profits (after provision for contingencies)

To Commonwealth Bank Reserve Fund

To Commonwealth Trading Bank Capital Account

To Rural Credits Department Capital Account

To Mortgage Bank Department Capital Account

To Industrial Finance Department Capital Account

Total ..............

Total ..............

\n```\n\n![](image.007.png)Form H. Regulation 13.\n\nCommonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nRETURN OF AUSTRALIAN NOTES.\n\nThe amount of Australian notes held by (name of bank) at its head office and\n\nall branches, as at the close of business on Wednesday,\n\n, 19 , was pounds shillings (£ ).\n\nBank stamp.\n\n(Signature of General Manager or other principal officer of Bank.)\n\nDate.\n\n![](image.008.png)By Authority: L. F. Johnston, Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":5,"scope_assessment":{"changed":true,"description":"Yes. These Regulations replace earlier rules (Regulation 3) and concretely alter administrative and reporting scope under the Act. They (a) formalise Bank operational powers and customer‑information duties (Regs 5–6), (b) limit the Bank’s duty to verify customers’ internal instruments (Reg 7), (c) impose secrecy and disclosure constraints on staff (Regs 9–10), (d) prescribe detailed financial statement formats and inter‑departmental reporting and Auditor‑General review (Regs 11–12; Forms B–G), and (e) expand the statutory meaning of 'primary produce' (Reg 14). These changes reassign compliance burdens, reporting obligations and definitional coverage compared with the prior regulations."},"complexity_factors":["Extensive prescribed forms and detailed accounting formats for multiple departments (Regulation 11; Forms B–F; Form G for central banking) — increases drafting and compliance complexity.","Annual central‑bank reporting plus Auditor‑General review and parliamentary laying requirements (Regulation 12(3)) — adds procedural steps and external oversight.","Bank discretion combined with mandatory customer information requirements (Regulations 5–6) — blends operational flexibility with compliance obligations.","Limits on Bank liability for failing to check clients’ internal instruments (Regulation 7) — legal risk allocation between Bank and customers.","Secrecy obligations on officers and agents with narrow exceptions (Regulations 9–10) — creates confidentiality duties and potential legal exposure for breaches.","Repeal of prior regulations (Regulation 3) — raises transitional/legal continuity considerations.","Addition to a statutory definition (Regulation 14 expands 'primary produce') — changes scope of Act‑level definitions affecting lending/eligibility rules.","Multiple departments and reserve/fund movements reflected in profit‑and‑loss allocation rules across forms (Forms B–F) — operational accounting complexity."],"plain_english_summary":"These Regulations set out how the Commonwealth Bank must run certain day‑to‑day and reporting functions: they give the Bank discretion over branch hours and customer identification, limit the Bank’s obligation to check clients’ internal rules, impose secrecy duties on staff, prescribe exact forms and formats for departmental balance‑sheets and profit‑and‑loss statements, require annual central‑bank reporting, and expand the statutory list of “primary produce”.\n\nThey affect the Bank, its customers, auditors and Parliament by allocating administrative discretion, creating compliance tasks and fixing the content and flow of financial information."},"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-realtime","completionTokens":1765},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is a consolidation regulation that repeals and replaces previous regulations from 1945-1952 without expanding the scope beyond standard banking operational and reporting requirements."},"complexity_factors":["Eight prescribed forms in the Schedule with specific tabular formatting requirements","Multiple distinct reporting streams for five banking departments (Note Issue, Rural Credits, Mortgage Bank, Industrial Finance, and Central Banking)","Cross-referencing to the Commonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953","Detailed financial statement templates requiring precise asset and liability categorization"],"plain_english_summary":"This regulation prescribes day-to-day governance for the Commonwealth Bank and its Note Issue, Rural Credits, Mortgage Bank and Industrial Finance departments, setting rules on customer interactions, confidentiality, document verification and expanded lending categories for primary produce. It binds board and staff to secrecy, requires standardized audited financial returns (to the Auditor‑General and Parliament), and affects bank officers, customers, borrowers and regulators by formalizing operational, reporting and legal-document procedures."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/c1953l00105","history":"/api/acts/c1953l00105/history","analysis":"/api/acts/c1953l00105/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/c1953l00105/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/c1953l00105/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/c1953l00105/documents"}}