Nearly 5 years later, APRA removes AMP super fund license conditions

Nearly five years after they were imposed, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has removed additional licence conditions imposed on AMP Limited’s N.M. Superannuation.

The additional license conditions, imposed in response to governance and risk management concerns, were lifted by APRA because it said the company had completed the necessary rectification work.

N.M. Super controls the AMP Super Fund and the Wealth Personal Superannuation and Pension Fund with combined estimated net assets of $114 billion.

APRA said it initially issued directions and additional licence conditions to N.M. Super in 2019 to address a range of concerns regarding the trustee’s compliance with the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993.

It said the action arose from issues identified during APRA’s ongoing prudential supervision, along with matters that emerged during the Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking, Superannuation and Financial Services Industry.

In 2021, after conducting further investigations, APRA agreed to accept a court enforceable undertaking (CEU) from N.M. Super pledging to rectify governance and risk management deficiencies. The undertaking covered specific matters additional to those addressed by APRA’s 2019 enforcement action.

“APRA is now satisfied that N.M. Super has completed rectification work, including remediation of members affected by the conduct dealt with by the CEU, in accordance with the commitments and timeframes set out in the undertaking,” the regulator said in a statement. “In recognition of this progress APRA has decided to revoke the additional licence conditions. 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.”