Compliance training solutions and CPD courses for banking and financial workplaces.

The Government today announced a proposed compensation scheme that would provide superannuation members with a clearer pathway to compensation where significant losses arise because trustees have failed to meet their obligations.

Under the Government’s proposal, APRA would set capital requirements for trustees offering higher risk investment options. These requirements would seek to ensure trustees have the financial capacity to meet their obligations under the proposed compensation scheme.

APRA intends to consult on the detailed design of the framework once the Government has finalised the relevant legislation.

The Government’s proposed compensation scheme will complement APRA’s broader work to strengthen investment governance in superannuation. Together, these reforms will strengthen member protection by reducing the likelihood of trustee failures and improving outcomes when failures occur.

As part of this work, next month APRA will consult on a package of reforms to lift investment governance standards and reduce the likelihood of member harm. These reforms are part of APRA’s multi-year efforts to lift investment governance standards across the superannuation industry, particularly within the platform trustee segment.

The proposals directly address many of the shortcomings that were identified by APRA in its 2025 review of industry practices covering around 95 per cent of platform assets under management.

The proposals would strengthen requirements across eight areas covering the full investment management lifecycle. The main proposals include:

• Ensuring that a trustee’s investment management capability is commensurate to the complexity of their investment menu;
• Addressing weaknesses in onboarding, monitoring and offboarding practices;
• Addressing material conflicts;
• Improving member-level diversification; and
• Strengthening trustee oversight and accountability.

The investment governance reforms would apply to all trustees. However, the impact will be most significant for platform trustees, given their investment menus are typically broader, platform products are more complex, and financial advisors can play a larger role in selecting and recommending investment options. The proposals will have a limited impact on trustees with strong investment governance and simpler business models.

These proposals follow substantial supervisory and enforcement activity already undertaken by APRA. Following the 2025 review, APRA directed trustees to urgently uplift investment governance practice. It has also taken enforcement action against five trustees for investment governance failings.

APRA Chair John Lonsdale said:

“The Government’s proposed compensation scheme will reinforce APRA’s proposals by creating a stronger incentive for trustees to remediate poor investment governance.

“APRA’s investment governance reforms aim to raise standards across the sector and reduce the likelihood of member harm from poor investment options.

“Together, these key reforms strengthen member protection significantly.”

APRA has published remarks by Executive Director Jane Magill delivered at the Conexus Retirement Leaders Summit, Navigating the retirement phase.

In her remarks, Ms Magill outlined the importance of supporting members through the transition to retirement and highlighted key challenges arising from a maturing superannuation system, including operational resilience, investment governance and liquidity management.

Her comments include:

• “Helping your members negotiate the uncertainties of the transition to retirement is more than a regulatory priority. It’s what your members expect from you.”
• “The emergence of frontier AI represents potential operational benefits, but it also amplifies risks including cyber risks and scams.”
• “Strong investment governance in retirement means thinking carefully about how products, strategies and member support frameworks help retirees navigate a different set of risks from those faced during accumulation.”
• “The focus should be on understanding member behaviour, monitoring emerging trends and ensuring liquidity frameworks remain fit for purpose in a system that is becoming increasingly retirement focused.”

The full speech is available on the APRA website at: APRA Executive Director Jane Magill’s remarks to the Conexus Retirement Leaders Summit, “Navigating the retirement phase”

ASIC is warning Australians that a quick online search is not enough to verify investment opportunities as scammers use generative AI to create vast networks of deepfake websites and endorsements to lure victims.

View the full media release.

Online brokers are targeting retail investors with complex or high-risk products without clearly disclosing their risks or conducting proper onboarding, leaving Australians exposed to risky products that could see them lose their investments within hours.

View the full media release.

ASIC is warning consumers about dealing with Yepbit and Yepbit Exchange (Yepbit) after receiving several reports from investors who say they are unable to withdraw funds from the platform.

More information is available here.

Recruitment firm Hudson Global Resources (Aust) Pty Ltd has been fined $270,000 for failing to meet its financial reporting obligations as a large proprietary company.

View the full media release.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited (Bendigo Bank) has conceded it has breached its obligations under the Banking Executive Accountability Regime (BEAR) in relation to a 2023 cyber attack involving its Alliance Bank¹ business.

There were significant weaknesses in customer authentication controls for online banking, including password settings that permitted very weak passwords, multiple customer accounts with identical passwords and system design features that enabled a threat actor to identify valid customer IDs.

A number of those weaknesses were identified by penetration testing conducted in 2020 but were not addressed by Bendigo Bank prior to the cyber attack.

As a result, an unidentified hacker was able to conduct an attack between 3 and 7 March 2023 and gain access to approximately 257 customer accounts. During that time, the attacker made 286 unauthorised transactions totalling about $490,000 affecting 87 separate Alliance Bank customers. Bendigo Bank was unable to recover about $140,000 of this money but reimbursed all affected customers.

Following a formal investigation, APRA commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court yesterday against Bendigo Bank.

Bendigo Bank admits that it breached its obligations under the BEAR by failing to:

• maintain adequate customer authentication controls for the prevention and detection of unauthorised access to Alliance Bank customer accounts;
• undertake a systematic testing program for the customer authentication controls of Alliance Bank as required by Prudential Standard CPS 234 – Information Security;
• have adequate governance and risk management for the information security of the IT system that enabled digital access for customers of Alliance Bank; and
• ensure that the responsibilities of the accountable persons of Bendigo Bank and its subsidiaries appropriately covered the IT system of Alliance Bank.

The parties propose orders in the proceedings that Bendigo Bank pays a pecuniary penalty of $8 million in respect of its contraventions of the BEAR, subject to Court approval. It is a matter for the Court to determine whether the declarations and the imposition of a penalty are appropriate and to make other orders.

The proceedings relate to historical conduct and control weaknesses that were satisfactorily remediated following the cyber attack. APRA does not currently have concerns regarding the adequacy of Bendigo Bank’s information security controls.

APRA Deputy Chair Therese McCarthy Hockey said: “Bendigo Bank is financially sound and comfortably above its core capital and liquidity requirements. However, as Australia’s sixth largest bank, we expect Bendigo Bank to have robust and sophisticated cyber security systems and practices.

“While the financial impact of this cyber incident was limited, our court action sends a clear message that all APRA-regulated entities must have appropriate cyber protection systems and regularly test the adequacy of those controls.”

The accompanying documents are available on the website version of this media release: Bendigo and Adelaide Bank admits to breaching its BEAR obligations in relation to cyber incident.

Footnote

¹ During the relevant period, Bendigo Bank operated the Alliance Bank network under its ADI licence, which comprised five authorised representatives: AWA Mutual Limited, BDCU Limited, Circle Mutual Limited, Service One Mutual Limited and Nova Mutual Limited.

Registered liquidator Simon John Thorn has been publicly reprimanded for failing to adequately carry out his duties in connection with his appointment as administrator of Premier Energy Resources Pty Ltd.

View the full media release.

ASIC strengthened consumer protection in 2025-26, delivering 150 administrative enforcement outcomes targeting misconduct across Australia’s financial, credit and corporate sectors.

View the full media release.

ASIC has issued infringement notices totalling $594,000 to three companies within supply chain logistics operator Mainfreight Group for allegedly failing to lodge their financial reports for the financial year ended 31 March 2025 on time.

View the full media release.

ASIC has suspended the Australian financial services (AFS) licence of Central Accord Pty Ltd until 4 February 2027. The suspension took effect on 30 July 2026.

View the full media release.

Former Berndale Capital Securities Pty Ltd director Stavro D’Amore will serve 23 months in prison as part of a three-year and ten-month total effective sentence handed down by the Federal Court for multiple dishonesty offences committed between 2017 and 2018.

View the full media release.

ASIC has suspended the Australian financial services licence (AFS) of CFD issuer GFA Capital Markets Ltd for five months after finding multiple client money, reporting obligation and compliance failures.

View the full media release.