ANZ admits ‘unconscionable conduct’ in bond buying and selling, agrees to A$240 million penalty

(Reuters) -Australia’s ANZ Group admitted to “unconscionable conduct” in its bond buying and selling providers and agreed to pay A$240 million ($159.5 million) in penalties to resolve a number of investigations, the securities regulator stated on Monday.

The settlement between ANZ and the Australian Securities and Investments Fee requires Federal Courtroom approval and would resolve 5 issues throughout the financial institution’s Australian Markets and Retail companies that have been topic to separate regulatory probes.

The regulatory violations centre on ANZ employees manipulating markets in a authorities bond issuance, in addition to misreporting of bond buying and selling information, the regulator stated.

“It is clear we’ve got points inside Australia Retail, significantly round our administration of non-financial threat,” ANZ Chief Government Nuno Matos stated. “This is the reason we’re making adjustments to this enterprise to enhance its deal with core priorities and to make it safer for patrons.”

ANZ confirmed it can submit its Root Trigger Remediation Plan to the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority on September 30, 2025, as required by court docket endeavor. The financial institution expects to spend roughly A$150 million implementing the plan in fiscal 2026, funded by de-prioritizing different initiatives.

The financial institution beforehand fired or suspended merchants from its markets enterprise over allegations of inappropriate behaviour in media experiences.

($1 = 1.5047 Australian {dollars})

(Reporting by Roushni Nair in Bengaluru; Enhancing by Lisa Shumaker)