ANZ Penalised $40 Million for Failing Customers Seeking Financial Hardship Assistance
Company: ANZ Group Holdings Limited
Summary
The Federal Court ordered ANZ to pay A$40 million for failures involving customers who sought financial hardship assistance. According to ASIC, ANZ failed to respond to 488 customers who submitted hardship notices between May 2022 and September 2024. In some cases, customers waited more than two years for a response. Customers seeking assistance reported circumstances including unemployment, serious medical problems, bereavement and family violence. ASIC said that in some cases ANZ continued debt-recovery activity before responding to hardship notices, including issuing default notices and referring customers to debt collectors. ANZ admitted the misconduct. It completed remediation that included payments to affected customers and corrections to credit reports. Source: Australian Securities and Investments Commission https://www.asic.gov.au/about-asic/news-centre/find-a-media-release/2025-releases/25-314mr-federal-court-orders-250-million-combined-penalties-against-anz/