The Federal Court has ordered Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) to pay $250 million in combined penalties for misconduct and systemic risk failures.

The penalties relate to separate court proceedings for misconduct across ANZ’s Institutional and Retail divisions.

Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (Retail Cases Omnibus) [2025] FCA 1593

Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (Treasury Bonds Case) [2025] FCA 1592

ANZ was ordered to pay:

• $135 million in combined penalties for institutional and markets misconduct relating to the management of a $14 billion government bond deal and inaccurate reporting of secondary bond market turnover data to the Australian Government. This includes an $80 million penalty for unconscionable conduct and a $50 million penalty for misreporting conduct and breach of AFS licensee obligations,
• $40 million for failing to respond to 488 customer hardship notices over 2 years, and failing to have proper hardship processes in place,
• $40 million for making false and misleading statements about savings interest rates, and failing to pay the promised introductory bonus interest rate to tens of thousands of customers, and
• $35 million for failing to refund fees charged to thousands of deceased estates. ANZ’s systems and processes could not identify which fees should be waived and/or refunded and whether any fees charged after a customer’s death had been waived or refunded. ANZ did not respond to representatives of deceased estates in the required timeframe after notification of the customer’s death.

ANZ admitted to the misconduct in September 2025, and together with ASIC, asked the Federal Court to impose penalties of $240 million, which the court increased by $10 million.

ANZ was also ordered to publish an adverse publicity notice.

In relation to deceased estates, in July 2024, ANZ was sanctioned for breaches of the Banking Code of Practice by the Banking Code Compliance Committee. Over 18,900 customer accounts were remediated $3.8m by ANZ for fees it did not intend to charge and additional costs arising from delays, with over 9,000 people also contacted to apologise for delays they experienced.

Separately the ANZ Chair announced that the board cancelled $32 million in bonuses for current and former senior leadership after significant non-financial risk failings and regulatory breaches.

If you found this article helpful, then subscribe to our news emails to keep up to date and look at our video courses for in-depth training. Use the search box at the top right of this page or the categories list on the right hand side of this page to check for other articles on the same or related matters.

Author: David Jacobson
Principal, Bright Corporate Law
Email:
About David Jacobson
The information contained in this article is not legal advice. It is not to be relied upon as a full statement of the law. You should seek professional advice for your specific needs and circumstances before acting or relying on any of the content.