The Australian Securities & Investments Commission reported that the Federal Court has ordered Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited to pay AUD 250 million in combined penalties for misconduct across its institutional and retail divisions, including failures described as widespread misconduct and systemic risk management shortcomings affecting the Australian Government, taxpayers and at least 65,000 retail customers. ASIC characterised the outcome as the largest combined penalties it has secured against a single entity. The total covers four proceedings. Institutional and markets misconduct attracted AUD 135 million for unconscionable conduct in the management of a AUD 14 billion Australian Government bond issuance for the Australian Office of Financial Management (including a record AUD 80 million penalty) and for inaccurate reporting of secondary bond market turnover data, with Justice Jonathan Beach increasing the misreporting penalty by AUD 10 million to AUD 50 million. Retail penalties comprised AUD 40 million for failing to respond to 488 financial hardship notices between May 2022 and September 2024 and for deficient hardship processes, AUD 40 million for false and misleading statements about savings interest rates and failures to pay promised interest (including around AUD 480,000 unpaid to 26,917 customers from August 2024 to March 2025), and AUD 35 million for failures in deceased estates handling, including not refunding fees charged to thousands of deceased customers and not responding within required timeframes. ANZ admitted the misconduct in September 2025 and, together with ASIC, had asked the Court to impose AUD 240 million in penalties. The Court’s orders followed separate hearings of the matters in early December 2025, with judgments issued for the bond deal and turnover misreporting and for the three retail matters.

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