APRA, Macquarie Uni say BEAR regime is showing sharp teeth Share The Banking Executive Accountability Regime, known as BEAR, has improved culture and behaviour by assigning individual responsibility to bankers, the prudential regulator and new research by Macquarie University have found. The results should provide confidence to Treasury as it prepares to roll out an extended version of BEAR to the finance sector via the “Financial Accountability Regime”. Macquarie University governance Professor Elizabeth Sheedy: “BEAR has undoubtedly brought a greater clarity about who is accountable for what.” Peter Braig Stuart Bingham, general manager of governance, culture, remuneration and accountability at the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority, said on Thursday BEAR had improved board oversight by encouraging directors to ask more probing questions of the banks’ management.