The Federal Court has imposed an additional $10 million fine on ANZ, bringing the total penalty to $250 million, following years of “unconscionable conduct” by the bank. This follows a previous record $240 million fine, the largest ASIC has ever secured against a single entity.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) stated that ANZ’s widespread misconduct and systemic failures affected the Australian government, taxpayers, and at least 65,000 retail banking customers. Investigations revealed that the bank mismanaged a $14 billion bond deal on behalf of the federal government, failed to refund fees charged to thousands of deceased customers, and ignored hundreds of customer hardship notices. Additionally, ASIC found that ANZ made false and misleading statements about savings interest rates.
The outcome of the four separate court proceedings was initially announced in September, with ANZ agreeing to pay ASIC’s costs in addition to the $240 million fine. However, the Federal Court ruled today that the penalty should be increased to $250 million.
ASIC Chair Joe Longo said ANZ “is a critical part of Australia’s banking system” that “must do better.” He emphasized that the size of the penalties reflects the seriousness of ANZ’s misconduct and its widespread impact on the government, taxpayers, and tens of thousands of customers. Longo highlighted that in the bond trading and misreporting matter, ANZ exposed the government to significant risk, denied it the opportunity to protect public interest, and misled officials for nearly two years by overstating bond trading volumes by billions of dollars. ASIC estimates that ANZ’s trading misconduct cost up to $26 million, reducing funds that could have supported essential public services.
ASIC Deputy Chair Sarah Court said tens of thousands of customers suffered from systemic failures. She added that the misconduct worsened already difficult situations for customers experiencing hardship or the loss of a loved one. “This outcome sends a clear message to ANZ that it needs to do better by its customers and to all banks that breaking the law is not an acceptable cost of doing business,” Court said.
In response, ANZ stated that it is “focused on significantly improving its management of non-financial risks across the bank,” with a dedicated program underway as part of its root cause remediation plan. The bank also confirmed the establishment of an ASIC matters resolution program within its Australia retail division to deliver improvements across multiple areas.
