The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) has imposed licence conditions on Bendigo and Adelaide Bank Limited (Bendigo Bank) following findings of longstanding and pervasive weaknesses in the bank’s non-financial risk management framework and the failure of the bank’s previous efforts to deliver sustainable improvement.
Today’s action follows an independent root cause analysis that APRA required Bendigo Bank to undertake in December 2025 to understand the extent of non-financial risk management issues at the bank. Deloitte has now completed that root cause analysis and found:
- Bendigo Bank’s non-financial risk management weaknesses are prevalent across the organisation;
- the bank does not have a clear, complete and reliable view of its regulatory obligations, material risks and key controls;
- there are material deficiencies in governance, accountability, compliance management, risk oversight and risk management capability; and
- key weaknesses have persisted despite several years of remediation activity as part of Bendigo Bank’s enterprise-wide risk transformation program (BEN+).
As a result, APRA is not satisfied that the bank has addressed the underlying root causes of its risk management deficiencies or delivered sustainable risk uplift, despite having had significant opportunity to do so.
The licence conditions will require Bendigo Bank to undertake a comprehensive rectification program, engage an independent assurer and provide board attestation as part of the program of work to sustainably rectify its risk management shortcomings.
APRA will also maintain Bendigo Bank’s existing $50 million operational risk capital add-on until APRA is satisfied that Bendigo Bank has effectively addressed the underlying prudential concerns.
APRA Deputy Chair Therese McCarthy Hockey said today’s action reflects the seriousness of the weaknesses identified across Bendigo Bank’s risk management framework.
“Although Bendigo Bank is financially sound, with strong capital and liquidity positions, APRA is concerned with the gaps in its non-financial risk management framework. The weaknesses identified by the root cause analysis are significant, longstanding and require decisive action.
“APRA appreciates the constructive and cooperative engagement we have received from Bendigo Bank, and we are encouraged by the Board’s commitment to ensure our concerns are addressed promptly, effectively and in full.”
APRA has worked closely with ASIC and AUSTRAC and these licence conditions support a coordinated regulatory response and improvement in risk governance, accountability and oversight.
