Apex brings compliance services down under

Yasmine Raso

Senior Journalist, Financial Newswire

2 November 2022

Global financial services provider, Apex Group, has launched its Global Compliance Solutions in Australia to address the market’s concerns around environmental, social and governance (ESG) compliance and anti-money laundering (AML) and financial crime.

The Australian announcement follows the group’s recent expansions in the Singapore and U.S. markets, providing clients with tech-driven compliance solutions to observe operational and regulatory obligations.

Apex’s Global Compliance Solutions will aim to meet four primary demands from the Australian market, including:

• “Superannuation compliance services: Design, implementation and independent review of compliance and risk frameworks, incident and breach management for reportable situations and specialist training for superannuation funds.
• Managed due diligence: Support for corporate trustee boards, investment managers and advisers with technology enabled diligence solutions
• Technology enabled training: Provision of CPD, RG146 superannuation training and refresher course and maintenance of training plans in superannuation.
• ESG & Sustainability Compliance: ESG investment governance, support for marketing, sustainability labels and disclosure, including related controls in the offer, promotion and marketing of ESG and sustainability products, ESG assurance testing, and ESG and Sustainability preference guidelines.”

“We are excited to announce the continued expansion of our established Compliance Solutions offering into new jurisdictions with our launch in Australia,” Hari Bhambra, Global Head of Compliance Solutions at Apex Group, said.

“We have seen specific demand for our ESG-related services in the Australian superannuation market, with 81% of the industry undertaking a commitment to responsible investment and look forward to playing our part in supporting the superannuation industry’s transition to responsible and sustainable investment strategies.

“We view compliance as a business enabler, and our solutions will enable Australia’s investment managers, corporate trustee boards, and trustee offices of super funds to navigate the opportunities that regulatory compliance can create for their businesses.”

The Australian arm of Global Compliance Solutions will be managed by Karen Waldon-White, former chief executive of Superannuation Compliance Services (SCS) before it was acquired by Apex in 2021. Waldon-White brings over twenty years of experience in managing compliance and product teams and developing and implementing governance programs for superannuation fund clients.