The Federal Court has ordered ANZ (ASX:ANZ) to pay $250 million in penalties for widespread misconduct and systemic risk failures, up from the $240 million originally sought by the bank and the corporate regulator in September.
Justice Jonathan Beach increased the penalty by $10 million specifically for ANZ's inaccurate reporting of secondary bond market turnover to the Australian Government, describing the bank's conduct as "inexcusable" and without any redeeming features.
The court imposed $135 million for institutional and markets misconduct, including a record $80 million for unconscionable conduct in managing a $14 billion government bond deal, $40 million for mishandling hundreds of customer hardship notices, $40 million for misleading savings interest rate statements, and $35 million for failing to refund fees to deceased customers.
Justice Beach criticized ANZ's lack of transparency and candour in bond trading, which placed undue pressure on reference prices and misled the Australian Office of Financial Management.
ASIC Chair Joe Longo added that ANZ's misreporting exposed the government to significant risk and cost taxpayers up to $26 million that could have supported essential public services.
At the time of reporting, ANZ's share price was $36.40.