News: IFL UPDATE 1-Regulator launches broadside at Australia's IOOF, seeks to disqualify top staff

• Prudential regulator finds conflicts of interest at IOOF
• APRA seeks to disqualify IOOF MD, Chair, CFO
• IOOF says to defend itself, issues already being addressed

(Adds IOOF response, APRA quotes)

SYDNEY, Dec 7 (Reuters) - Australia's prudential regulator said on Friday it had begun regulatory action against wealth manager IOOF Holdings Ltd (IFL) and is seeking to disqualify five top employees from their positions for failing to act in their customers interests.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) said in a statement that it had concerns about conflicts of interest at IOOF since 2015 which the firm failed to address for years.

Its actions, if successful, would prohibit the five people who include the firm's managing director, chairman and chief financial officer, from being pension fund trustees. APRA said it was also seeking to impose additional conditions on the firm.

The move is a blow for the country's second-largest wealth manager, which is already in the midst of a restructure brought on by regulatory pressure and scrutiny of its business model by a powerful inquiry into financial misconduct.

"APRA's efforts to resolve its concerns with IOOF have been frustrated by a disappointing level of acceptance and responsiveness," said APRA Deputy Chair Helen Rowell.

It said the five individuals it targeted "have shown a lack of understanding of their personal and trustee obligations ... and a lack of contrition" for breaching pension-fund laws.

IOOF said the allegations against its executives were misconceived and that it intends to vigorously defend them. It added, in a sharemarket filing, that it had already addressed or was addressing APRA's other concerns.

The company posted a record annual profit in August, as its system of paying advisers regardless of whether they sell its own investment products led to a wave of new business.