Australia's prudential regulator has imposed a A$50 million operational risk capital charge on Bendigo and Adelaide Bank, effective 1 January 2026, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority announced on 18 December 2025. The measure was applied in response to risk management deficiencies identified at the regional lender, and runs concurrently with an ongoing enforcement investigation by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC).
Bendigo and Adelaide Bank is an Australian regional bank. It offers retail, business, and agribusiness banking products.
THE CAPITAL CHARGE
APRA's capital charge compels Bendigo and Adelaide Bank to hold A$50 million in additional regulatory capital as a buffer against operational risks that the regulator has determined are insufficiently managed under the bank's existing framework. Operational risk capital charges are a formal supervisory tool available to APRA under the prudential standards it administers.
APRA said an independent Deloitte review had found significant deficiencies in the bank's approach to identifying, mitigating and managing money laundering and terrorism financing risk, and that it was concerned similar weaknesses may exist across the bank; it will also require Bendigo to carry out a root cause analysis of its non-financial risk management issues. AUSTRAC's mandate covers anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations. The bank confirmed both the APRA capital charge and the AUSTRAC investigation in a statement published on its website, indicating it was cooperating with both regulatory bodies and working to address the identified concerns.
OTHER APRA CAPITAL ADD-ONS
In October 2025, APRA removed the final A$500 million of the capital add-ons it had imposed on Westpac in 2019, following that bank's completion of a remediation programme to the regulator's satisfaction. APRA retained a separate A$1 billion capital penalty on ANZ.