National Australia Bank Sued by Regulator for ‘Several Thousand’ Breaches
National Australia Bank Sued by Regulator for ‘Several Thousand’ Breaches
(Bloomberg) -- National Australia Bank Ltd. is being sued by the country’s securities regulator for “several thousand” breaches of company law, in another blow to the scandal-tainted Australian banking sector.
In a filing on Tuesday, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission said the Melbourne-based lender charged customers for financial planning services they never received, failed to maintain adequate compliance systems and contravened its obligation to act efficiently, honestly and fairly.
The lawsuit adds to the litany of legal cases facing Australia’s large banks, which came in for withering criticism in an independent inquiry into financial sector misconduct early this year. The relevations that banks charged fees for services they didn’t provide was one of the inquiry’s central findings.
The former chairman and chief executive officer of National Australia both resigned in February, soon after being singled out for blame by the Royal Commission.
Read more details on the allegations
“Fees for No Service misconduct has been widespread and is subject to ongoing ASIC regulatory responses including investigations and enforcement actions,” the regulator’s Deputy Chairman Daniel Crennan said. “ASIC views these instances of misconduct as systematic failures, unfair to customers including those that are more vulnerable.”
National Australia takes the claim seriously “and will now carefully assess the allegations,” the bank’s Chief Legal & Commercial Counsel Sharon Cook said. “We will continue to work cooperatively and constructively with ASIC to deal with this issue.”
The bank began compensation efforts last year and expects to complete that process by June 2020, Cook said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Emily Cadman in Sydney at ecadman2@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Marcus Wright at mwright115@bloomberg.net
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