APRA Ends OnePath Undertaking After Remediation Program Concludes

Australia’s financial regulator, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA), has concluded its court-enforceable agreement with OnePath Custodians after the trustee successfully addressed a member remediation program. OnePath, one of four superannuation trustees operating under Insignia Financial Group, manages retirement savings for approximately 365,000 members with more than $39 billion in funds under management, making it one of the nation’s largest retail superannuation groups.

APRA accepted the undertaking in July 2024 after OnePath pledged to address compliance deficiencies and compensate members affected by its failure to direct default contributions into a MySuper product. Since entering the undertaking, OnePath has completed a full program to identify affected members, rectify the deficiencies, and make all reasonable endeavours to provide remediation where required.

Before accepting the undertaking, APRA had been monitoring OnePath as the trustee continued to identify further members who may have been adversely affected by failures to direct default contributions into MySuper products. OnePath had engaged an independent expert and remediated a significant number of affected members from 2022, but the continued identification of additional cohorts prompted concerns from APRA about the trustee’s culture, governance, and implementation of the MySuper requirements.

Under the agreement, OnePath was required to identify affected members, rectify the deficiencies, and provide remediation where necessary. The trustee also committed to holding a $40 million overlay on its existing Operational Risk Financial Requirement assets, which APRA has now lifted. Additionally, OnePath agreed to allocate additional resources to restore its Operational Risk Financial Requirement to 100 per cent of the target balance of 0.25 per cent of funds under management.

The enforcement action followed additional licence conditions imposed on OnePath and other Insignia trustees in November 2022 to address governance, accountability, and risk management deficiencies across the group. Those conditions required OnePath to identify and compensate members who suffered financial losses arising from a breach of an APRA direction issued in December 2021. The regulator had been monitoring the trustee and imposed these conditions to address deficiencies identified in its oversight.

Throughout the undertaking, OnePath worked with an independent expert to remediate affected members. OnePath also paid $10.7 million under infringement notices issued by APRA in 2024 for alleged breaches of the Superannuation Industry (Supervision) Act 1993 relating to its failure to invest default contributions in MySuper products. The payment followed a further $1.5 million paid in June 2023 for similar conduct, bringing the total to $12.2 million.

APRA chair John Lonsdale said, “Superannuation trustees play a critical role in protecting Australians’ retirement savings. Where trustees fall short, the consequences can directly affect members. APRA expects issues to be rectified swiftly and thoroughly. As one of Australia’s largest retail superannuation groups, Insignia is expected to lead with strong governance, risk oversight and robust controls evidencing a clear focus on members’ best interests.”