(Adds background on undertaking, details on plan)
April 7 (Reuters) - Westpac Banking Corp WBC.AX said on Wednesday that Australian banking regulator had approved its plan to address weaknesses in its risk controls, after the lender agreed to a court-backed undertaking to make amends last year.
Last December, the Australian Prudential (LON:PRU) Regulation Authority said Westpac had not done enough to improve its risk governance, contributing to a lawsuit and a record A$1.3 billion fine for enabling millions of improper payments to people exploiting children. a statement, Westpac said the plan outlined commitments designed to strengthen all aspects of its risk governance across both financial and non-financial risk.
Fulfilling the requirement for independent checks of its plan, the lender appointed Promontory Australasia to provide quarterly assurance and said it intends to release their reports bi-annually.
In the first report released on Wednesday, Westpac said Promontory had acknowledged the completeness of the plan and noted that appropriate governance and accountability structures were in place to effectively implement it.
"We have made progress on improving our management of risk over the past 12 months, however, there is much more work to do to ensure sustainable change," Chief Executive Peter King said in the statement.