The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has removed additional licence conditions imposed on N.M. Superannuation Proprietary Limited (N.M. Super) in response to governance and risk management concerns.
The removal of the licence conditions is effective 2 August 2024.
N.M. Super, part of the AMP group of companies, controls the AMP Super Fund and Wealth Personal Superannuation and Pension Fund with combined estimated net assets of $114 billion.
It first saw directions and additional licence conditions issued by APRA in 2019 to address a range of concerns regarding its compliance with the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.
The action also sought to address issues that emerged during the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.
At the time, areas identified for improvement included conflicts of interest management, governance and risk management practices, breach remediation processes, addressing poor risk culture and strengthening accountability mechanisms.
The directions also required AMP Super to renew and strengthen its board.
In 2021, after conducting further investigations, APRA agreed to accept a court enforceable undertaking from N.M Super. With this, the trustee pledged to rectify governance and risk management deficiencies, and the undertaking included additional matters to those previously addressed in 2019.
In a statement, the regulator explained it is “now satisfied that N.M. Super has completed rectification work, including remediation of members affected by the conduct dealt with by the court enforced undertaken, in accordance with the commitments and time frames set out in the undertaking”.
“In recognition of this progress APRA has decided to revoke the additional licence conditions,” it said.
“Notwithstanding, APRA will continue to engage with this trustee to ensure that it remains enabled and capable to deliver against the standards of governance and risk management that we expect of a trustee of its size and complexity.”
APRA deputy chair Margaret Cole added that identifying, managing, and responding to risk remains pivotal to address operational and financial resilience of APRA-regulated entities.
“APRA will continue to engage the full range of supervisory and enforcement responses to ensure that regulated entities meet their obligations and deliver on their promises to customers, members and policyholders,” Cole said.
