APRA Imposes Licence Conditions on NAB Unit NULIS Nominees

Source: Regulation Asia Editors, Regulation Asia 2020-08-31

NULIS Nominees is required to improve its governance and control environment, and ensure members’ best interests are prioritised in its decision-making.

APRA (Australian Prudential Regulation Authority) has imposed additional licence conditions on NULIS Nominees, a superannuation trustee and NAB (National Australia Bank) unit.

The case was referred by the Royal Commission, which formed the view that NULIS may not have been in members’ best interests in its decisions.

Specifically, concerns were raised about the delayed migration of members into MySuper products, the grandfathering of certain fee arrangements, and the charging of fees to members for services that were not provided.

While APRA has not concluded that NULIS breached the law, its investigation into the matter raised concerns about the adequacy of NULIS’s internal processes for demonstrating how members’ best interests were considered and prioritised.

APRA has directed NULIS to record how it considers members’ best interests and priority covenants when making decisions that materially affect their interests. This is aimed at improving NULIS’s practices and ensuring APRA can assess its compliance in future.

NULIS is also being required to implement improvements in its governance and control environment to address prudential concerns and appoint an independent expert to report on compliance with its licence conditions.

“NULIS has agreed to implement the actions required under the directions and the additional licence conditions in a timely manner,” APRA said.

NULIS is also party to a class-action lawsuit filed by Australian law firm Maurice Blackburn in January, which alleges the firm breached its duties and failed to act in the best interests of clients by leaving clients idling in products with high fees and commissions.

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APRA Imposes Licence Conditions on NAB Unit NULIS Nominees

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