AUSTRALIA

Capital / Liquidity

ANZ Announces New Remediation Costs to ‘Fix’ 3.4m Customer Accounts

By Editors | 19/12/2019

At its AGM on Tuesday, ANZ announced an additional A$682mn charge for remediation work, where a total 3.4 million accounts “need fixing”.

Market Infrastructure

Cyber Resilience Practices at Financial Firms Improving: ASIC

By Editors | 19/12/2019

Improvements have been seen at larger firms in response planning, mitigation action planning, and to ensure events that occur are contained, do not propagate, and neutralised as quickly as possible.

Market Infrastructure

ASIC Approves ABA’s Updated Banking Code of Practice

By Editors | 18/12/2019

ASIC has given its final approval for the new version of the Banking Code of Practice, which implements recommendations from the Royal Commission.

Enforcement

ASIC Launches Court Proceedings Against NAB Over Service Fees

By Editors | 18/12/2019

NAB is alleged to have broken the law more than 12,000 times by charging customers fees for no service and issuing defective fee disclosure statements.

ASIC Urges More Progress to Improve Insurance in Superannuation

By Editors | 18/12/2019

ASIC has observed improvements by a “significant number of trustees” as a result of the industry’s implementation of the Insurance in Superannuation Voluntary Code of Practice.

Capital / Liquidity

New Zealand Passes Bill to End Predatory Lending

By Editors | 17/12/2019

Effective from April 2021, the bill will cap the interest and fees on loans at 100% of the loan amount and introduce a 0.8% per day rate cap for high-cost loans.

Securities / Derivatives

NZ FMA Identifies Weaknesses in Fund Custody Arrangements

By Editors | 17/12/2019

An FMA review found that custody administration tasks are often being delegated back to fund managers, which weakens the separation of functions and duties.

Capital / Liquidity

APRA Investigates Westpac, Imposes Capital Surcharge

By Editors | 17/12/2019

APRA’s investigation will focus on the conduct that led to Westpac’s alleged 23 million AML breaches, and whether its senior managers breached the Banking Act, including the BEAR.

Market Infrastructure

APRA Delays Implementation of Product Responsibility under BEAR

By Editors | 16/12/2019

APRA will delay finalising its consultation on the product responsibilities under BEAR to align with the government’s proposed extension of the accountability regime.