Australia and New Zealand Banking Group (ANZ) has once again been fined by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). The regulator has set a record AUD 240 million penalty for various acts of misconduct, including incorrect bond reporting.
This is the seventh action that ASIC has taken against the bank since 2017.
Bond trading data was overstated by tens of billions of dollars for close to two years, ASIC stated, making it appear more active and potentially influencing the government’s dealer selection process for bond issuance.
On 19 April 2023, ANZ sold a large volume of 10-year Australian bond futures while pricing an AUD 14 billion bond issuance from the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM), putting downward pressure on the bond’s price.
ANZ was aware that trading could expose AOFM to harm, ASIC said, but failed to disclose the situation to its client. The regulator believes that this could have led to a AUD 26 million loss for the government.
When later queried by the government on the issue, ANZ’s responses were “misleading or deceptive”, ASIC stated.
During a press conference, ASIC chair Joe Longo affirmed, “They said they were going to be frank in their communication to AOFM; they weren’t. They said they were going to follow their own policy and procedures; they didn’t. “
“It wasn’t intentional. But it was certainly incompetent,” Longo continued. “As far as the unconscionable conduct is concerned it was clearly grubby.”
The bank has now agreed to pay a combined AUD 125 million in penalties on this account, admitting to acting unconscionably and misleading the government.
Last year, ANZ reported that it had found no evidence of market manipulation during a preliminary analysis. ASIC’s investigation confirmed that there was no evidence that the market manipulation provisions of the Corporations Act had not been breached.
READ MORE: ANZ finds no evidence of market manipulation in preliminary analysis
Longo observed, “I think it’s rather curious that people should be concerned about market manipulation. It’s serious enough that we found a contravention that’s been admitted to unconscionable conduct.”
Alongside these issues, ANZ is under fire for failing to respond to customers’ financial hardship notices between May 2022 and September 2024, not delivering on introductory bonus interest as advertised to new customers, and failing to refund fees charged to deceased customers between July 2019 and June 2023.
Deputy ASIC chair Sarah Court noted, “Collectively, the misconduct in these retail matters occurred over many years, and in our view is marked by ANZ’s significant failures to manage its non-financial risk across the bank.”
©Markets Media Europe 2025
