The royal commission into the big four banks, which wrapped up in February, was supposed to be a very expensive wake-up call for the sector. But given Westpac’s alleged 23 million breaches of anti-terrorism and counter-money laundering laws, it seems not a lot has been learned.
Below, Crikey takes a look at some of the banking sectors’ stuff-ups since the end of the royal commission.
Date | Institution | Offence |
November | Westpac | 23 million alleged breaches of anti-terrorism and counter-money laundering laws after not properly monitoring and reporting international fund transfers and transactions of more than $11 billion, some potentially linked to child exploitation in the Philippines. Wespact could be facing $1 billion in fines. |
November | NAB | Sold “junk” insurance targeting students, unemployed people and people on disability pensions, with many benefits completely inaccessible to customers — some even only payable after death. NAB has agreed to backpay tens of thousands of customers a total of $49.5 million. |
November | CBA | Pleaded guilty to 87 hawking offences after selling $12 million worth of life insurance products with unclear descriptions over the phone to 30,000 customers. |
November | NAB | Admitted to 255 breaches in mortgage “introducer” scheme which saw unlicensed people bring clients to the bank for a commission. Facing a $433 million penalty. |
October | ANZ | Admitted it was still working through compensating half-a-million customers to the tune of $90 million after charging them the wrong interest rates for home loans dating back to 2003. |
October | CBA & KPMG | Class action launched after 15,000 alleged breaches of superannuation law from failing to transition $3.2 billion worth of members’ money to a better-performing product. |
October | ANZ, CBA, NAB & Westpac | Treasurer Josh Frydenberg asked the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission to examine the banks’ conducts after they failed to pass interest rate cuts on to customers in full. |
September | Westpac | Class action launched after the bank allegedly siphoned cash from superannuation members, with potential damages in the tens of millions. |
August | Westpac | $1.8 million refund announced for 30,000 customers after incorrectly charging annual credit card fees. |
August | Westpac | Fined $1.5 million by the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority for failing to report data on time. |
July | NAB | 13,000 customers’ data was uploaded without permission to two data service companies. |
July | Westpac | Forced to repay tens of millions to 40,000 mortgage holders after they were charged excess interest. |
June | CBA | Admitted to losing track of 20 million magnetic tapes containing customer details. |
June | Westpac | PayID hacked, exposing the details of 98,000 customers. |
April | CBA | 8000 staff underpaid by around $4.8 million. |
April | Westpac | Taken to court after allegedly turning a blind eye to rogue financial adviser Sudhir Sinha. Facing $1 million fine per breach. |
March | Citibank, UBS, JP Morgan, Barclays & RBS | Sued in class action lawsuit in London for allegedly rigging currency exchange rates internationally, with potential damages of US$1.2 billion. |
March | Westpac | Bank abandons personal advice business after it made a loss and received 1800 customer complaints in several months, costing $250 million -$300 million in exit and restructuring costs. |
February | Westpac | Class action filed by mortgage holders affected by irresponsible lending, seeking tens of millions. |
February | CBA | Bank admitted it couldn’t stop charging fees to investors as ordered by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. Customers owed a total of $40 million. |
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