{"id":"C1953L00103","name":"Commonwealth Trading Bank Regulations","slug":"commonwealth-trading-bank-regulations","collection":"legislative_instrument","jurisdiction":"commonwealth","status":"repealed","isInForce":false,"actNumber":"103 of 1953","makingDate":null,"administeringDepartment":null,"currentVersion":{"id":23471,"registerId":"commonwealth-C1953L00103-current","compilationNumber":null,"startDate":"2026-04-01","status":"Repealed","reasons":null,"registeredAt":null},"sections":[{"sectionNumber":"1","sectionType":"section","heading":"Commonwealth Trading Bank Regulations","content":"STATUTORY RULES.\n\n1953\\. No. 103.\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––––––––\n\nCommonwealth Trading Bank Regulations.\n\nCitation.\n\n1. These Regulations may be cited as the Commonwealth Trading 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\nDefinition.\n\n3. In these Regulations, “the Bank” means the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia established under the Commonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nOffice hours.\n\n4. Branches and agencies of the 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\n5. The 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\nTrading Bank not bound to inquire as to manner of operating on accounts, &c.\n\n6. The 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\n7. When any business is to be transacted with the 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\n![](image.003.png)\\* Notified in the Commonwealth Gazette on , 1953.\n\n4884.—Price 3d. 10/26.11.1953.\n\n \nSecrecy.\n\n8. An officer, agent or other person carrying on any business of the 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.\n\n9. Balance-sheets and statements of profit and loss of the Bank prepared under sub-section (1.) of section 195 of the Commonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953 shall be in accordance with the form of balance-sheet and the form of statement of profit and loss respectively set out in the Schedule to these Regulations.\n\nTHE SCHEDULE.\n\n![](image.004.png)Regulation 9.\n\nCommonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953.\n\nCOMMONWEALTH TRADING BANK OF AUSTRALIA.\n\nBalance-sheet as at\n\n```html\n

Liabilities.

Assets.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

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

Coin, bullion, notes and cash at bankers

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

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

Money at short call—

(a) London................

(b) Elsewhere.............

Balances due to other banks

Special Account with Commonwealth Bank

Cheques and bills of other banks and balances with and due from other banks..

Treasury bills—

(a) Australian Governments

(b) Other governments........

Public securities (excluding treasury bills)—

(a) Australian Governments

(b) Other governments........

(c) Local and semi-governmental authorities

Bills receivable and remittances in transit

Bank premises (at cost less amounts written off).

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

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

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

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

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

Dr.

Cr.

£

s.

d.

£

s.

d.

To Expenses................

By Discount and interest earned, net exchange, commissions and other items (including transfers from contingencies accounts), after deducting interest paid and accrued on deposits, rebate on bills current at balance date, amounts written off assets and losses on realization of assets and transfers to the credit of contingencies accounts (out of which accounts provisions for all bad and doubtful debts have been made)

To Taxes and payments in lieu of taxes

To Profits carried down.........

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

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

To Amounts written off bank premises.

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

To Appropriations as follows:—

(a) Reserve funds...........

(b) National Debt Sinking Fund..

(c) Other appropriations ......

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

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

\n```\n\n![](image.005.png)By Authority: L. F. Johnston. Commonwealth Government Printer, Canberra.","sortOrder":0}],"analysis":{"kimi_summary":{"_metrics":{"model":"kimi-k2.5","source":"moonshot-realtime","completionTokens":1711},"content_quality":"ok","complexity_score":2,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"This is the original 1953 regulation made under the Commonwealth Bank Act 1945-1953. The scope remains limited to administrative and operational banking matters (customer identification, document verification, secrecy, and financial reporting standards) consistent with the parent Act's framework for establishing the Trading Bank as a separate commercial banking entity."},"complexity_factors":["Only one defined term ('the Bank') in the interpretation section","No cross-references to other legislation beyond the parent Commonwealth Bank Act","Simple permissive language ('may require') without nested exceptions or conditional logic","Schedule contains standard accounting templates rather than complex legal machinery","Total length of only 9 operative regulations"],"plain_english_summary":"These regulations set the operating rules for the Commonwealth Trading Bank of Australia, a government-owned commercial bank. They govern customer identification requirements, how the bank treats authority documents (powers of attorney, probate), limits the bank’s liability for third-party internal rule breaches, and impose strict staff secrecy obligations.\n\nThey also mandate precise formats for the bank’s annual accounts and profit reporting. The rules affect customers, agents, account-operating bodies, bank employees, and anyone relying on the bank’s financial disclosures."},"flash_summary":{"complexity_score":3,"scope_assessment":{"changed":false,"description":"These Regulations implement administrative, evidentiary and reporting details for the Commonwealth Trading Bank rather than change the Bank’s statutory powers or remit. They prescribe who must provide what documents and information (customers supply particulars and originals under Regs 5–7), limit the Bank’s inquiry obligations (Reg 6), impose staff secrecy duties (Reg 8), and mandate the exact financial statement formats (Reg 9). No provision expands or removes substantive powers conferred by the Commonwealth Bank Act; the instrument operates within that statutory framework."},"complexity_factors":["Small number of short, administrative provisions (Regs 1–9) keeping legal structure simple","Delegation of operational discretion to the Bank (office hours and required customer particulars) increases administrative flexibility (Reg 4; Reg 5)","Limitation of Bank liability for checking customers’ internal instruments reduces potential civil exposure but creates reliance on customer-provided assurances (Reg 6)","Document-production requirement (original powers, probate, or letters) creates a tangible compliance burden for customers and a verification step for the Bank (Reg 7)","Secrecy duty on officers restricts information flows and imposes compliance risk for staff, with exceptions only by Bank direction or law (Reg 8)","Prescriptive accounting format in the Schedule standardises reporting but requires strict adherence by preparers and auditors (Reg 9)","Cross-reference to the parent Act for balance-sheet/statutory reporting ties the Regulations to broader statutory requirements (Reg 9 referencing the Act)"],"plain_english_summary":"These Regulations set routine operational and reporting rules for the Commonwealth Trading Bank. They let the Bank decide branch hours, require prospective customers to provide identity and other particulars, allow the Bank to demand original powers of attorney or probate, limit the Bank’s duty to check customers’ internal rules, impose secrecy obligations on staff, and fix the form of balance-sheet and profit-and-loss statements in the Schedule.\n\nThe measures affect Bank officers (secrecy and record rules), customers (information and document supply), and auditors/regulators (standardised financial statements), creating clear administrative obligations and discretion for the Bank."}},"importantCases":[],"_links":{"self":"/api/acts/commonwealth-trading-bank-regulations","history":"/api/acts/commonwealth-trading-bank-regulations/history","analysis":"/api/acts/commonwealth-trading-bank-regulations/analysis","conflicts":"/api/acts/commonwealth-trading-bank-regulations/conflicts","importantCases":"/api/acts/commonwealth-trading-bank-regulations/important-cases","documents":"/api/acts/commonwealth-trading-bank-regulations/documents"}}