ANZ faces fine after court action from Australian Securities and Investments Commission for ‘unconscionable’ failures

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission and ANZ on Monday agreed to a hefty penalty over four matters at the bank.

It marks the largest fine a company will pay after being targeted by the corporate watchdog to “reflect the seriousness and number of breaches of law”, ASIC chair Joe Longo said in a statement.

“Time and time again ANZ betrayed the trust of Australians,” Mr Longo said.

ANZ will pay a $125 million fine for its conduct with the Federal government while managing a $14 billion bond deal and incorrectly reporting bond trading data.

The corporate watchdog said the bank acted “unconscionably” when managing the $14 billion deal and incorrectly reported its bond trading data to the government, overstating the figure by tens of billions of dollars over almost two years.

“In the bond trading case, ANZ was in a trusted position and its conduct had the potential to reduce the amount of funding available to the government,” Mr Longo said.

“This funding is used to support critical services including Australia’s health and education systems, affecting all Australians. When public funds are put at risk, every Australian pays the price.”

The watchdog said the bank misled the government on data which helps the government select bond dealers.

ANZ’s inflated figure made the bank appear more active than it was, ASIC said.

The bank said ASIC had not claimed ANZ engaged in market manipulation of the bond market and that the government was not impacted by its trading.

ANZ will also pay $40 million for failing to respond to hundreds of customers’ hardship notices between May 2022 and September 2024.

The bank took upwards of two years before responding to impacted customers who were facing a litany of challenges including unemployment, family violence, grief and serious medical issues.

ASIC warned ANZ about these issues in June 2023 but the bank’s efforts to tackle these matters was lacklustre, resulting in further failures for another 15 months.

The bank faces another $40 million penalty for misleading customers about its savings interest rates and failing to pay the promised interest rate to the customers between July 2013 and January 2024.

ANZ has remediated almost 200,000 accounts and adopted higher interest rates for those impacted.

The company is also remediating customers for allegedly failing to pay tens of thousands of other customers for a similar promotion on its website between August 2024 and March 2025.

Finally, the bank will be hit with a $35 million fine for failing to refund fees charged to dead customers’ accounts and failing to respond to loved ones’ attempts at dealing with the estates in the required timeframe.

Taking place between July 2019 and June 2023, the bank’s failures were “likely to have compounded the difficulties faced by loved ones dealing with the death of a family member or relative, as well as frustrating the probate process”, ASIC said.

ANZ has established an “ASIC Matters Resolution Program” to deal with the failures in its retail division and to overhaul the company’s governance and internal operations.

It will also spend an additional $150 million for its remediation plan and submit the proposal to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority on September 30.

ANZ chair Paul O’Sullivan acknowledged the bank’s mistakes and the “significant impact” it had on customers.

“On behalf of ANZ, I apologise and assure our customers we have taken the necessary action, including holding relevant executives accountable,” Mr O’Sullivan said.

The bank’s CEO Nuno Matos said the failings “reinforced the case for change” at the bank.

“It is my expectation that we see measurable improvements across the bank to better protect and care for our customers and to create a more sustainable business,” Mr Matos said.

An independent review of ANZ’s operations showed “persistent weakness” across the bank’s non-financial risk management across six areas and has appointed consulting firm Promontory to provide independent assurance of its progress against the plan.

It comes as the bank revealed plans to slash thousands roles in a massive restructuring of the company.