Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) brought proceedings against Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited (ANZ) concerning the bank’s failure to provide certain benefits to customers holding Breakfree Packages and offset accounts. The dispute was heard by the Federal Court of Australia, where ANZ admitted to contravening specific sections of the Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth), the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth), and the National Consumer Credit Protection Act 2009 (Cth). The court was tasked with determining the appropriate penalty and other remedial actions for ANZ’s conduct.

The legal issues centred on whether ANZ had contravened the specified sections of the ASIC Act, the Corporations Act, and the NCCP Act by failing to provide certain benefits to customers who held Breakfree Packages and offset accounts. ANZ admitted to making false or misleading representations to customers that it had adequate systems and processes to administer the benefits as per the applicable terms and conditions. The court also needed to determine the appropriate penalty for the contraventions and whether ANZ should be required to publish a corrective notice.

In its judgment, the court found that ANZ had indeed contravened the specified sections of the Acts by making false or misleading representations about the adequacy of its systems and processes. The court accepted that ANZ’s conduct was not intentional, deliberate, or dishonest. The parties agreed on a penalty of $25 million, the form of the declarations, and the adverse publicity order. The court ordered ANZ to pay the penalty and to publish a corrective notice as per the court's order. Additionally, the court ordered ANZ to pay ASIC’s costs of and incidental to the proceeding.

The court issued orders for ANZ to pay a pecuniary penalty of $25 million and to publish a corrective notice to its customers. The notice must be prominently displayed on ANZ’s website and secure online banking login page for at least 180 days. Furthermore, ANZ is required to pay ASIC’s costs associated with the proceedings.