ANZ’s $160 million fine for rule breaches is latest in series of missteps

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SYDNEY (Reuters) -Australian bank ANZ agreed on Monday to pay a record-breaking A$240 million ($159.5 million) in fines for systemic failures ranging from acting “unconscionably” in a government bond deal to charging dead customers.

Here is a timeline of fines handed ANZ in recent years, according to regulator, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC):

November 2017: ANZ ordered to pay A$10 million for attempting to manipulate a key Australian interest rate 10 times over an 18-month period.

February 2018: A Melbourne court orders it to pay A$5 million for failing to verify customer income in its former Esanda car finance business.

October 2020: Federal Court of Australia orders ANZ to pay A$10 million for incorrectly charging customers non-payment fees.

October 2022: Penalised A$25 million after the Federal Court finds ANZ failed to provide agreed benefits to about 689,000 customer accounts over a 20-year period.

September 2023: Gets A$15-million penalty for misleading customers about their available funds for certain credit card accounts, resulting in fees and interest charges.

March 2023: Penalised A$10 million by the Federal Court for accepting information and documents from unlicensed third parties in its home loan introducer program.

December 2023: Fined $900,000 for breaching disclosure obligations during a A$2.5-billion institutional share placement in 2015.

September 2025: Agrees to pay a record A$240 million after regulator says it misled the government while working on a A$14-billion bond deal, as well as failing to respond to customer hardship notices and failing to refund fees charged to customers who had died.

($1=1.5029 Australian dollars)

(Compiled by Alasdair Pal in Sydney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)