Despite the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) trying to have Axa Asia Pacific Holdings executive Andy Penn disqualified from acting as a trustee, he is back in his old position at the company.

Previously Mr Penn was in charge of group strategic development but he has now been reinstated in his former job as CEO for Australia and NZ.

The controversy arose when APRA and the Australian Securities and Investments Commission announced a settlement in May last year of complaints arising from a decision by Mr Penn – who was the Axa staff superannuation fund’s trustee – to change the method of calculating interest on member benefits.

In the wake of Mr Penn’s reinstatement, neither Axa nor APRA has confirmed that the four-year-old investigation into his role in the matter has been abandoned.

APRA began an investigation in June 2002 into the changes to the super plan, which had been paying members more than it earned for the previous two financial years. It specifically investigated whether members of the fund were properly informed of the changes.

In September last year, Mr Penn lodged an appeal to the Administrative Appeals Tribunal against APRA’s decision to disqualify him from acting as a trustee of the staff fund.

Axa Asia Pacific Holdings Group CEO Les Owen says Mr Penn has made a great contribution to the group’s growth over the past few years.

“I am delighted that he is returning to his role,” he said. “At this stage we’re unable to make any further comment on this or the background to it.”