Australia’s banking regulator has confirmed that Westpac Banking Corporation has completed a multi-year risk transformation programme, leading to the removal of the final A$500 million capital add-on imposed by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA).
APRA Confirms Westpac Has Met Risk Transformation Obligations
The add-on was originally applied following a 2020 investigation into governance and risk shortcomings at the bank.
Westpac subsequently entered a Court Enforceable Undertaking with APRA and established its Customer Outcomes and Risk Excellence (CORE) Programme to address the identified issues.
APRA said it was satisfied that Westpac had completed its remediation work and that “the specific prudential issues identified by APRA have been addressed.”
APRA Member Therese McCarthy Hockey said: “As a systemically important bank, APRA expects Westpac to hold itself to the requisite standard of prudent risk management and governance practices. Completion of this risk transformation program is a vital step in ensuring these expectations are consistently met.”
The regulator first imposed a total A$1 billion capital add-on in 2019, removing half of it in July 2024 as progress was made.
With the remaining A$500 million now lifted, APRA said it expects Westpac to maintain its “unquestionably strong capital position” and continue embedding effective risk management practices.
