1301.0 - Year Book Australia, 2002  
ARCHIVED ISSUE Released at 11:30 AM (CANBERRA TIME) 25/01/2002   
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Contents >> Financial System >> Financial enterprises

Financial enterprises are institutions which engage in acquiring financial assets and incurring liabilities, for example, by taking deposits, borrowing and lending, providing superannuation, supplying all types of insurance cover, leasing, and investing in financial assets.

For national accounting purposes, financial enterprises are grouped into Depository corporations, Life insurance corporations, Pension funds, Other insurance corporations, Central borrowing authorities and Financial intermediaries not elsewhere classified.

Depository corporations are those included in the Reserve Bank of Australia's broad money measure (see Money supply measures). The Reserve Bank itself is a depository corporation; authorised depository institutions are those supervised by APRA and include banks, building societies and credit unions; non-supervised depository corporations registered under the Financial Corporations Act include merchant banks, pastoral finance companies, finance companies and general financiers; finally cash management trusts are also included in depository corporations.

Life insurance corporations cover the statutory and shareholders' funds of life insurance companies and similar business undertaken by friendly societies and long-service-leave boards.

Pension funds cover separately constituted superannuation funds.

Other insurance corporations cover health, export and general insurance companies.

Central borrowing authorities are corporations set up by State and Territory Governments to provide liability and asset management services for those governments.

Financial intermediaries n.e.c. cover common funds, mortgage, fixed interest and equity unit trusts, issuers of asset-backed securities, economic development corporations and cooperative housing societies.

Table 26.2 shows the relative size of these groups of financial enterprises in terms of their financial assets. This table has been compiled on a consolidated basis, i.e. financial claims between institutions in the same grouping have been eliminated. The total is also consolidated, i.e. financial claims between the groupings have been eliminated. For this reason, and because there are a number of less significant adjustments made for national accounting purposes, the statistics in the summary table will differ from those presented later in this chapter and published elsewhere.


26.2 FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS, Financial Assets

Depository corporations


At 30 June
Reserve Bank

$b
Banks

$b
Other

$b
Life insurance corporations

$b
Pension funds

$b
Other insurance corporations

$b
Central borrowing authorities

$b
Financial
intermediaries
n.e.c.

$b
Consolidated
financial
sector total

$b

1996
35.6
474.1
145.0
123.8
208.5
45.9
100.2
98.1
919.6
1997
49.1
528.2
154.9
140.1
256.6
51.7
92.0
122.4
1,029.0
1998
45.1
581.5
170.6
157.5
297.3
60.7
95.5
165.3
1,144.2
1999
47.0
639.9
172.6
172.2
344.6
62.2
96.0
158.2
1,218.3
2000
51.1
723.9
190.7
191.4
416.5
71.0
91.3
213.2
1,408.6
2001
59.3
786.1
226.3
194.4
451.1
75.3
92.3
226.0
1.505.7

Source: Australian National Accounts: Financial Accounts (5232.0).



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