APRA deputy chair warned on conflict

The Shadow Assistant Treasurer, Senator Mathias Cormann, has fired a shot over the bows of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) over its deputy chairman, Ross Jones, accepting an appointment to a charter committee on superannuation established by the Minister for Financial Services, Bill Shorten.

Cormann has responded to comments on a Money Management story dealing with Jones' appointment to the charter committee established to oversee the establishment of a Council of Superannuation Guardians by saying he does not believe such involvement is appropriate.

"A serving senior member of the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority really shouldn't be involved in this," Cormann said. "[It's] not right."

Cormann has already made clear that, if elected at the scheduled 14 September Federal Election, the Coalition would not be proceeding with either the work of the charter committee or the Council of Superannuation Guardians.

Further, with respect to concerns around Jones' involvement with the committee, he made clear that the work of the charter committee was effectively already underway and therefore coincided with the term of Jones' appointment as APRA deputy chairman.

VIEW ALL

View all

Cormann yesterday told Money Management that it was "the job of regulators is to administer the law, not to get themselves involved in political processes, in particular in this pre-election period".