NVDA gained a massive 197% since our AI first added it in November - is it time to sell? 🤔Read more

UPDATE 2-Australia's CBA ordered to boost capital until governance failings fixed

Published 01/05/2018, 01:14 pm
© Reuters.  UPDATE 2-Australia's CBA ordered to boost capital until governance failings fixed
PRU
-
CBA
-
AMP
-
ANZ
-
NAB
-
WBC
-

* APRA-commissioned report of CBA governance and culture scathing

* CBA says will implement report's recommendations

* Report comes amid judicial inquiry into financial sector

* Australian treasurer expects more CBA executives will go (Updates throughout with more detail, govt response)

By Paulina Duran and Tom Westbrook

SYDNEY, May 1 (Reuters) - Australia's banking regulator slugged Commonwealth Bank of Australia CBA.AX with an extra A$1 billion ($753 million) capital requirement on Tuesday as it released a scathing report into how the lender allowed money laundering to flourish.

Australia's largest bank had a "widespread sense of complacency" and was reactive in dealing with risk, the Australian Prudential (LON:PRU) Regulatory Authority (APRA) said in the report into the culture that led to the money laundering allegations. findings pile pressure on the board of Commonwealth Bank following the resignation of chief executive Ian Narev in January, and add to the ignominy heaped on Australia's top financial firms in recent weeks by an ongoing judicial inquiry into banking sector wrongdoing.

"Executives are gone, board members are gone. More will go," Australian Treasurer Scott Morrison told reporters in Canberra when asked about the APRA report's implications for the bank.

The report put all of Australia's banks on notice that their governance standards would face similar scrutiny in light of the failings at Commonwealth Bank, amid moves to stiffen penalties for corporate wrongdoing and beef up oversight.

It comes a day after Australia's largest-listed wealth manager, AMP Ltd AMP.AX , announced the resignations of its chairwoman and legal counsel and slashed directors' fees in response to revelations of misconduct at the independent judicial inquiry. year-long inquiry, known as a Royal Commission, started hearings in February and has already exposed widespread wrongdoing including fraud by financial planners, deception of regulators and charging customers fees without providing a service. commissioned the independent report into Commonwealth Bank last year, after the bank was sued by Australia's financial intelligence agency for alleged breaches of money laundering laws that allowed criminals and terror financiers to launder millions of dollars through its accounts.

It said the highly profitable bank's "continued financial success dulled the senses of the institution" and exposed it to non-financial risks, particularly in the areas of compliance and conduct.

"These risks were neither clearly understood nor owned, the frameworks for managing them were cumbersome and incomplete, and senior leadership was slow to recognise, and address, emerging threats to CBA's reputation," it said.

RECOMMENDATIONS

The report's 35 recommendations included more closely linking executives' pay to "exacting accountability standards", boosting risk management and compliance functions, and changes in culture to guarantee best practices in risk identification.

It warned other lenders that they would be held to similar standards.

"APRA supervisors will also be using the report to aid their supervision activities, and will expect institutions to be able to demonstrate how they have considered the issues," it said.

CBA said it would implement all the recommendations and had already begun making changes at a board level to rebuild customer trust.

Matt Comyn, who replaced Narev as CEO, said he had asked the board not to give him a short-term bonus this year as he sets about rebuilding the reputation of the 106-year-old bank.

"For me this is only one small step in demonstrating that accountability and the steps that are going to be required are going to be different this time round," he said in an interview released by the bank on Tuesday.

Omkar Joshi, portfolio manager at Regal Funds Management, said the additional capital requirement was insignificant for a bank with an A$800 billion balance sheet.

"Reputationally, I think there's already been enough issues for them that it doesn't make it worse," he said.

Australia's Big Four banks - Commonwealth Bank, Westpac WBC.AX , National Australia Bank NAB.AX and Australia and New Zealand Banking Group ANZ.AX - are facing greater regulation and potential penalties in the wake of the governance scandals.

"I think our sector has had a golden period for 20 plus years and we don't think that's going to continue, it is going to be harder," ANZ Chief Executive Shayne Elliott said on Tuesday. ($1 = 1.3264 Australian dollars)

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.