ANZ Bank is reassessing the sale of its wealth business to IOOF

• APRA's move to impose additional licence conditions on IOOF may have implications for the ANZ Bank's sale of its wealth business.

• The bank says it is urgently seeking information from both IOOF and APRA.

• ANZ in October last agreed to sell its OnePath Pensions and Investments business to IOOF for $975 million.

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The ANZ Bank is assessing the proposed sale of its OnePath business to financial services giant IOOF.

This follows action by prudential regulator APRA in the Federal Court to disqualify three executives and two directors from IOOF for failing to act in the best interests of superannuation members.

APRA is also seeking to apply licence restrictions on IOOF.

The ANZ in October last year agreed to sell its OnePath Pensions and Investments business to IOOF for $975 million.

The deal includes a 20–year strategic alliance to make available IOOF superannuation and investment products to ANZ customers.

The sale of the wealth arm fits with the bank’s strategy to focus more on retail and business banking in Australia and New Zealand, and institutional banking supporting client trade and capital flows across the region.

“Given the significance of APRA’s action, we will assess the various options available to us while we seek urgent information from both IOOF and APRA," says ANZ Deputy CEO Alexis George in today's update on the sale of the wealth businesses.

“The work to separate Pensions and Investments from our Life Insurance business continues. There is a framework available to complete the Zurich transaction that does not involve IOOF."