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Melbourne-based ANZ, also known as Australia and New Zealand
Banking Group, and the Australian Securities and Investments
Commission said in statements they will ask a federal court to
endorse the penalties for four separate prosecutions.
The fines would set a new record amount imposed on a single
entity for corporate misconduct by the ASIC, the national
company and financial services regulator. The previous record
was AU$113 million ($75 million) imposed on the Sydney-based
bank Westpac for widespread compliance failures in 2022.
“The penalties we’ll be asking the court to impose including a
record penalty ASIC has sought for unconscionable conduct
reflects the seriousness and number of breaches of law, the
vulnerable position that ANZ put its customers in and the
repeated failure to rectify crucial issues,” said Joe Longo,
ASIC chair.
ANZ admitted failing to refund charges to thousands of dead
customers and failing to respond to hundreds of customer
hardship notices, in some case for over two years, the regulator
said.
The bank made false and misleading statements about savings
interest rates and failed to pay the promised interest rate to
tens of thousands of customers. ANZ also acted unconscionably
with the Australian government while managing AU$14 billion
($9.3 billion) in bonds over two years, ASIC said.
ANZ chief executive Nuno Matos, who joined the bank in May, said
he expected to see “measurable improvements” resulting in better
care for customers.
“The failings outlined are simply not good enough and they
reinforce the case for change,” Matos said.
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