‘We can do better’ on compliance, says ANZ

Yesterday, ifa reported that ANZ has engaged Pricewaterhouse Coopers (PwC) to conduct an independent compliance review within the bank's OnePath subsidiaries after compliance breaches between early 2013 to mid-2015 were "proactively" reported to ASIC.

ANZ Wealth Australia managing director Alexis George said while a majority of these compliance breaches occurred in the past, the bank still "can do better".

"We would like to apologise to impacted customers and assure them we've been working hard to improve our controls," Ms George said.

"We agreed with ASIC last year that an independent review of our systems will be undertaken to further strengthen our compliance systems."

According to Ms George, as soon as the bank became aware of the concerns in early 2013, ANZ reported the breaches to ASIC and "provided full cooperation" with the regulator's review of the matter.

"We've also taken significant additional steps to strengthen our compliance systems, including targeted external audits and additional staff training to improve monitoring, reporting and governance," Ms George said.

Since February 2013, ANZ has paid approximately $4.5 million in compensation to around 1.3 million OnePath customers.

The bank stated that none of the breaches made by the bank's OnePath subsidiaries related to life insurance claims.

As part of the independent review, PwC will identify any gaps in OnePath's compliance systems and make recommendations to improve frameworks, policies and process. PwC is expected to report back both to ANZ and ASIC by the middle of the year.