ANZ bank fined $240m for ‘widespread misconduct’ in Asic’s biggest ever penalty
ANZ has said this morning it will pay $240m in penalties to settle five misconduct claims with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic).
The bank admitted to engaging in unconscionable conduct in services provided to the Australian government, incorrectly reporting bond trading data to the government by overstating the volumes by tens of billions of dollars and to widespread misconduct across products and services that affected about 65,000 customers.
Asic said the “widespread misconduct” occurred over many years and was marked by ANZ’s “significant failure to manage non-financial risks across the bank”. Joe Longo, the chair of Asic, said in a statement:
Time and time again ANZ betrayed the trust of Australians.
The total penalties across these matters are the largest announced by ASIC against one entity and reflect the seriousness and number of breaches of law, the vulnerable position that ANZ put its customers in and the repeated failures to rectify crucial issues.
Key events
Coalition support slumps to all-time low in latest polls
Infighting and the sacking of a frontbencher have left the federal Coalition with its worst-ever primary vote result in Newspoll history, with One Nation appearing to have scooped up disaffected voters, AAP reports.
The Coalition’s primary vote collapsed to 27%, the lowest since the poll began tracking first preferences in 1985, the Newspoll conducted last week and published in The Australian on Monday found.
Labor’s primary vote was steady at 36%, giving prime minister Anthony Albanese a commanding 58% to 42% two-party-preferred lead, his biggest margin since taking office.
The result comes in the wake of opposition leader Sussan Ley’s sacking of senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price from the frontbench, a move that exposed bitter internal divisions over migration, climate change and net zero policies.
What misconduct did ANZ admit to?
Asic filed four proceedings related to the misconduct, including:
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Acting unconscionably in its dealings with the Australian government while managing a $14bn bond deal, including incorrectly reporting its bond trading data and overstating the volumes by tens of billions of dollars for nearly two years.
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Failing to respond to hundreds of customer hardship notices, in some cases for more than two years.
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Making false and misleading statements about savings interest rates and failing to pay the promised rates to tens of thousands of customers.
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Failing to refund fees charged to thousands of dead customers and not responding to families dealing with deceased estates within required timelines.
ANZ has admitted to the allegations.
‘We made mistakes’: ANZ chair apologises for bank’s misconduct
The penalties must be approved by the federal court, but Asic said their size reflects the gravity of the misconduct.
ANZ’s chair, Paul O’Sullivan, issued an apology to customers and assured them the company had taken “the necessary action, including holding relevant executives accountable”, adding:
While we have worked hard to get regularity certainty on these matters, the reality is we made mistakes that have had a significant impact on customers. On behalf of ANZ, I apologise.
ANZ bank fined $240m for ‘widespread misconduct’ in Asic’s biggest ever penalty
ANZ has said this morning it will pay $240m in penalties to settle five misconduct claims with the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (Asic).
The bank admitted to engaging in unconscionable conduct in services provided to the Australian government, incorrectly reporting bond trading data to the government by overstating the volumes by tens of billions of dollars and to widespread misconduct across products and services that affected about 65,000 customers.
Asic said the “widespread misconduct” occurred over many years and was marked by ANZ’s “significant failure to manage non-financial risks across the bank”. Joe Longo, the chair of Asic, said in a statement:
Time and time again ANZ betrayed the trust of Australians.
The total penalties across these matters are the largest announced by ASIC against one entity and reflect the seriousness and number of breaches of law, the vulnerable position that ANZ put its customers in and the repeated failures to rectify crucial issues.
Opposition welcomes shipyard funds but says defence remains underfunded and ‘under prepared’
Angus Taylor, the shadow defence minister, says any extra money for defence, including Aukus, is “welcome” but he believes the government had not spent nearly enough to create “a fit-for-purpose defence force at a time which is more dangerous than any time since the second world war”.
Taylor told RN Breakfast that the opposition still wants to see defence spending increase to 3% of GDP:
We just saw in the last week or so the Chinese Communist party on display, their propaganda parade, and it is clear that they have an influence that they haven’t had in the past. They’re militarising at an unprecedented rate. But we’re also seeing authoritarian regimes right across the globe flexing their muscles. And so it’s crucial that we see the investment necessary and we need to see it urgently.
Right now, this government is underfunding defence in a very substantial way.
We need this government to shift from rhetoric to readiness. We are under prepared.
Government ‘very confident’ Aukus will deliver subs after extra $12bn for WA shipyard
Tim Ayres, the minister for science, industry and innovation, says the government remains confident Australia will get nuclear-powered submarines from the US after announcing a $12bn “downpayment” on a shipbuilding facility in Western Australia to prepare for them.
Ayres said this morning that getting the submarines remains the absolute objective of the Aukus deal, rejecting assertions that the US could back out of the deal. He told RN Breakfast:
I’m very confident that this agreement between Australia and the United States and the United Kingdom will be delivered upon in full and it is already well and truly under way. The arrangements between us and the United States on the submarines in particular is deep.
We are well on the pathway. There is a long way to go, but this is an important step for our national security, and we’re following it through diligently in the national interest.
Read more about the shipyard here:
Closure of Albanese’s Marrickville electoral office is ‘very sad’, Marles says
Richard Marles says the closure of Albanese’s electoral office in Marrickville is “very sad”, saying a spate of protests there had not helped any causes but deprived locals of their ability to go to their local member.
The prime minister said the site would close after serving as Grayndler’s electorate office for more than 30 years. Albanese cited a string of protests there, many related to the ongoing crisis in Gaza.
Marles, the deputy prime minister, told RN Breakfast this morning of the decision:
I think it’s very sad. I think the kind of protests that we’ve seen outside of the prime minister’s electoral office over the last couple of years have been a complete disgrace. It does nothing to advance the arguments associated with any of these issues. It really, I think, ends up being much more about the protesters than the cause that they pretend to espouse.
It is certainly denying the constituents of Grayndler being able to go to their local member and the office of their local member and receive basic services. I mean, I think there is an intimidatory degree to what’s been going on here, but it is appalling behaviour that it has resulted in this moment.
Good morning
Good morning, and welcome to Monday. Here’s what’s on deck this morning as we get the live blog rolling.
Prime minister Anthony Albanese is due to travel to Port Moresby for Papua New Guinea’s 50th anniversary of independence as the countries prepare to sign a major defence treaty. The deal will reportedly allow PNG nationals to serve in Australia’s defence force with similar pay and a pathway to citizenship.
Rooftop solar accounted for 12.8% of all electricity generated in Australia for the first half of 2025, the highest rate ever, according to the Clean Energy Council. More than a third of Australian households now have rooftop solar and the first half of the year also recorded a record-breaking 85,000 batteries sold amid new programs meant to encourage uptake.
We’ll see what else the day has in store. Stick with us.
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