Federal Court Slaps ANZ With Record $250m Penalty Package later than ASIC Action

The Federal Court has ordered Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) to pay $250 million in penalties following four separate proceedings spanning the bank’s Institutional and Retail divisions, in what ASIC described as the largest combined penalties it has ever secured against a single entity. The judgment was delivered on 19 December 2025, later than the matters were heard by Justice Jonathan Beach on 2–3 December 2025.

The penalties cover misconduct affecting the Australian Government and taxpayers, alongside failures impacting at least 65,000 retail banking customers. The court-ordered total exceeded the $240 million ANZ and ASIC had jointly asked the court to impose in September 2025, later than Justice Beach increased one component relating to inaccurate bond market turnover reporting by $10 million.

Justice Beach’s increase lifted the penalty tied to secondary bond market turnover misreporting to $50 million, contributing to a broader $135 million allocation for institutional and markets misconduct linked to the management of a $14 billion of secondary market turnover data.

Bond Deal Trading, Misreporting, and ASIC’s Warning on Systemic Risk

The institutional and markets component of the case centred on ANZ’s handling of a $14 billion government bond issuance and the bank’s reporting of bond turnover data used by the Australian Government to assess market activity. According to ASIC, the misconduct created systemic risk failures with potential implications for public finances, with ASIC estimating the trading conduct cost up to $26 million—money that could have supported essential public services.

ASIC Chair Joe Longo said, ‘ANZ is a critical part of Australia’s banking system and, frankly, they must do better.’ He added, ‘The size of the penalties ordered today underscores the seriousness of ANZ’s misconduct and its far-reaching consequences for the Government, taxpayers and tens of thousands of customers.’ He also said the outcome should be a “clear signal” that ANZ must overhaul its non-financial risk management.

In comments referenced in the coverage of the decision, Justice Beach emphasised deterrence and lifted the bond-data penalty element by $10 million, taking the institutional and markets penalties to $135 million. Reuters reported that the bank was penalised for unconscionable conduct and inaccurate bond reporting, with the court increase reflecting the seriousness of the misreporting.

Retail Failures: Hardship Handling, Interest Rates, and Deceased Estates

The remaining penalties address a series of retail banking failures, including financial hardship handling, savings interest rate representations, and processes linked to deceased estates. Reuters summarised the breakdown as $40 million for failing to address hundreds of customer hardship notices, $40 million for misleading savings-rate statements and interest underpayments, and $35 million for failures to refund fees charged to deceased customers.

said, ‘Tens of thousands of customers suffered from systemic failures across ANZ’s retail bank, which extended to fundamental banking basics like paying the correct interest rate on savings accounts.’ She added, ‘ANZ will also pay for misconduct that made an already hard time far harder for hundreds of its customers who were experiencing hardship or dealing with the loss of a loved one.’

ANZ had admitted the misconduct in September 2025 and, together with ASIC, asked the court to impose penalties of $240 million—before Justice Beach increased the total to $250 million. The outcome caps a multi-matter enforcement action that ASIC framed as a response to widespread misconduct and systemic non-financial risk management failures across the group.