FINES (PENALTIES) – AUSTRALIA

Investors back Matos to clean up the ANZ mess

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Original article by James Eyers
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 17-Sep-25

The ANZ Bank’s share price fell by just 0.6 per cent on Tuesday, despite growing scrutiny over the lender in the wake of a recorded $240m financial penalty for misconduct. Montgomery Investment Management’s chairman Roger Montgomery says investors are betting that the strategy of ANZ’s relatively new CEO Nuno Matos will succeed in closing the valuation gap with its peers. Jon Mott from Barrenjoey in turn says Matos has a clear mandate to implement his turnaround strategy.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, MONTGOMERY INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT PTY LTD, BARRENJOEY CAPITAL PARTNERS PTY LTD

ANZ faces record $240m penalty for ripping off customers and government

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Original article by Michael Janda, Emilia Terzon
abc.net.au – Page: Online : 16-Sep-25

The ANZ Bank has agreed to a total financial penalty of $240m to settle a case brought by the Australian Securities & Investments Commission. The record fine includes an $85m penalty for the bank’s management of a $14bn government bond issuance in April 2023, and a $40m fine for overstating its bond trading turnover over a period of nearly two years. ANZ has also been fined $115m for widespread misconduct in its retail banking division; this includes failing to respond to hundreds of customer hardship notices, failing to refund fees to thousands of deceased customers, and making false and misleading statements regardings its savings interest rates. The penalty must be approved by the Federal Court.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Bupa sued for $35m for misleading customers

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Original article by Michael Smith
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 9 : 1-Jul-25

The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission has asked the Federal Court to impose a $35 million fine on health insurer Bupa for allegedly misleading customers over a five-year period. The ACCC alleges that Bupa gave customers incorrect information in regard to claiming benefits in situations where two or more procedures were taking place at the same time, with some customers having to pay thousands of dollars or cancel medical procedures altogether as a result of the incorrect information. Bupa’s Asia Pacific CEO Nick Stone says he is "deeply sorry" that customers were given the wrong information, while ACCC chair Gina Cass-Gottlieb says Bupa should have invested in the proper training and processes to prevent such mistakes from occurring.

CORPORATES
BUPA AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Commonwealth Bank fined a record $3.55m for breaching spam laws with millions of emails

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Original article by Josh Taylor
The Guardian Australia – Page: Online : 7-Jun-23

The Australian Communications & Media Authority has ordered the nation’s biggest bank to pay a record penalty for breaching the Spam Act. The Commonwealth Bank has been fined $3.55m for sending 65 million unsolicited emails to customers; the bulk of them required customers to log in to their account in order to unsubscribe, which is prohibited under the legislation that took effect in 2021. The bank has also agreed to a three-year court-enforceable undertaking to independently review its online marketing practices and staff training.

CORPORATES
COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIAN COMMUNICATIONS AND MEDIA AUTHORITY

Crown and AUSTRAC agree $450m fine

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Original article by Zoe Samios
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 15 & 22 : 31-May-23

A Federal Court hearing is scheduled for mid-July to consider a proposed settlement between Crown Resorts and Austrac over breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. Crown has agreed to pay a fine of $450m, which would be the amongst the highest penalties imposed in Australia’s corporate history, and the largest incurred by a casino operator anywhere in the world. Crown has also agreed to a number of admissions, including failing to appropriately assess the money laundering and terrorism financing risks that its casinos faced.

CORPORATES
CROWN RESORTS LIMITED, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Uber faces $26m fine after ACCC probe

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Original article by Max Mason
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 3 : 27-Apr-22

Ride-sharing pioneer Uber has admitted to breaching Australian consumer law by engaging in misleading or deceptive conduct and making false or misleading representations. The Australian Competition & Consumer Commission pursued action against Uber with regard to its algorithms, and Uber has agreed to penalties totalling $26m which must now be approved by the Federal Court.

CORPORATES
UBER AUSTRALIA PTY LTD, UBER BV, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Telstra fined $50m for unconscionable sales

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Original article by James Fernyhough
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 25 : 27-Nov-20

Telstra has agreed to pay a $50 million penalty over the sale of mobile phone plans to 108 Indigenous consumers between 2016 and 2018. The sales were made at five Telstra stores in Northern Territory, South Australia and Western Australia, with the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission stating the sales were made despite the telco knowing that the Indigenous consumers did not understand the product and could not afford it. The ACCC has described Telstra’s action as "unconscionable", while it noted the customers had been left with average debts of $7,400.

CORPORATES
TELSTRA CORPORATION LIMITED – ASX TLS, AUSTRALIAN COMPETITION AND CONSUMER COMMISSION

CFMEU slugged $486k for blockade

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Original article by Ewin Hannan
The Australian – Page: 2 : 3-Mar-20

The Construction, Forestry, Maritime, Mining & Energy Union has been fined $404,500 for organising an unlawful blockade at the Barangaroo project in Sydney. The Federal Circuit has also ordered five current and former union officials to pay fines ranging from $7,500 to $22,500. The industrial action was aimed at forcing concreting firm De Martin & Gasparini to sign an enterprise agreement. The CFMMEU and its officials have now been fined $9.62m in total since the Australian Building & Construction Commission was reinstated in 2016.

CORPORATES
CONSTRUCTION, FORESTRY, MARITIME, MINING AND ENERGY UNION OF AUSTRALIA, FEDERAL CIRCUIT COURT OF AUSTRALIA, DE MARTIN AND GASPARINI PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN BUILDING AND CONSTRUCTION COMMISSION

Westpac slapped with $9m penalty over poor advice

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Original article by Aleks Vickovich
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 20 : 20-Dec-19

Westpac has been ordered to pay a total of $9.15m for 22 breaches of the Corporations Act. The bank was found to be liable for the ‘deficient and defective’ financial advice that ex-employee Sudhir Sinha provided in 2013 and 2014. Sinha was deemed to have failed to act in the best interests of his clients by providing financial advice that was inappropriate for their personal circumstances. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has banned Sinha from working in the industry for five years, while it launched legal action against Westpac in 2018.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION, FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

$1bn scandal hits Westpac

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Original article by Joyce Moullakis, Greg Brown
The Australian – Page: 1 & 8 : 21-Nov-19

Prime Minister Scott Morrison says banks must "lift their game" in the wake of revelations that Westpac has been charged with more 23 million breaches of anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. Amongst other things, Austrac’s statement of claim alleges that Westpac failed to conduct due diligence on 12 customers linked to child exploitation in the Philippines. Brett Le Mesurier of Shaw & Partners says Westpac may face a larger penalty than the Commonwealth Bank’s record $700m fine in 2018 for more than 53,000 breaches of financial crime laws. Westpac could potentially incur fines in excess of $1bn.

CORPORATES
WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION – ASX WBC, AUSTRALIA. DEPT OF THE PRIME MINISTER AND CABINET, COMMONWEALTH BANK OF AUSTRALIA – ASX CBA, AUSTRALIA. ATTORNEY-GENERAL’S DEPT. AUSTRALIAN TRANSACTION REPORTS AND ANALYSIS CENTRE, NATIONAL AUSTRALIA BANK LIMITED – ASX NAB