ANZ Fined $250M After Court Ruling on ASIC Settlement

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) was ordered by the Federal Court to pay $250 million in penalties last Friday, following four separate proceedings spanning the bank’s Institutional and Retail divisions.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC), the country’s primary financial, corporate, and consumer credit regulator, said that this was the largest combined penalty it has ever secured against a single entity.

The ANZ published a media release on Friday, explaining that the Federal Court has made orders regarding the settlement. ANZ agreed with ASIC to resolve five matters within the Australian Markets and Australia Retail business that were the subject of separate regulatory investigations.

“As part of the resolution, ANZ agreed to civil penalties of $240 million, which were detailed in a media release on 15 September 2025,[1] and to pay ASIC’s costs,” ANZ wrote. It added that the Court imposed an additional $10 million penalty relating to the submission of inaccurate monthly secondary bond turnover data to the Australian Office of Financial Management, increasing the penalty for this matter from $40 million to $50 million. 

“For the remaining matters, the Court ordered penalties in the terms agreed with ASIC. The total penalties ANZ is subject to under the orders today is $250 million,” ANZ added.

ANZ Misconduct Affected Over 65,000 Customers, Says Court

Overall, the penalties cover what is perceived as misconduct that affected the Australian Government and taxpayers, as well as failures impacting at least 65,000 retail banking customers.

According to ASIC, the misconduct created systemic risk failures with potential implications for public finances. ASIC also estimated the trading conduct cost up to $26 million, which is money that could have been used to support essential public services.

Commenting on the matter, ASIC chair Joe Longo said that ANZ is a critical part of Australia’s banking system, and they must do better, adding that the size of the penalties underscores the seriousness of its misconduct and its far-reaching consequences for the Government, taxpayers, and tens of thousands of customers.

ANZ’s statement said that the bank is focused on significantly improving its management of non-financial risks, with a dedicated program of work underway as part of its Root Cause Remediation Plan.

“In addition, ANZ has established an ASIC Matters Resolution Program within Australia Retail to meet commitments to ASIC to deliver improvements across a number of areas in its Retail division. Both programs of work will be reviewed by Promontory, an independent expert appointed to review and report on progress and delivery of this work,” the bank added.