The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) and Macquarie Bank have jointly proposed an AUD 14 million penalty to the New South Wales Supreme Court after the bank admitted failures in promoting its Welcome Rate savings offer. The proposed resolution remains subject to court approval and comes in addition to AUD 8.8 million in remediation already paid to nearly 40,000 customers.
Between Dec. 1, 2021, and Sept. 9, 2022, Macquarie advertised the offer as a “welcome variable rate” or “bonus,” which ASIC alleges could lead customers to believe it was paid on top of the standard variable rate. Instead, the Welcome Rate generally operated as a fixed rate replacing the standard rate during the four-month promotional period. As interest rates increased, the initial margin could narrow or disappear, with customers’ rates increasing only to match the standard rate if it exceeded the Welcome Rate.
Macquarie admitted breaches of the Corporations Act 2001, including failing to take necessary steps to ensure its statements were clear and unlikely to confuse new customers. Its advertising framework lacked sufficiently rigorous controls to identify misunderstanding risks and clear internal guidance on how the offer operated. Customer complaints did not prompt a sufficiently timely correction.