I think it will come as no surprise to the bankers here today that often, the key difference in processing times is whether the application will be acted on by the Reserve Banks on a delegated basis or will require Board action.
While an application can come to the Board for many reasons, the most common reason is that the Board has received a protest on the application from a member of the public. I think it is helpful to consider whether this process could be improved, so that bona fide concerns raised by the public are appropriately considered, while still ensuring timely decision-making.