The prudential regulator’s extraordinary intervention in the governance of industry fund Cbus should trigger an overhaul of the union movement’s outdated influence over the $3.9 trillion superannuation sector, financial services veteran David Murray says.

The Australian Prudential Regulation Authority ordered Cbus and two smaller building industry funds to get an independent review of whether their seven CFMEU-linked directors were fit to hold those roles and if expenditure they signed off was in members’ best financial interests.