Twelve messages and 20 misleading statements. That’s all it took to thrust AMP into crisis in 2018. The banking royal commission, headed by former High Court judge Kenneth Hayne and his forensic counsel assisting Rowena Orr, QC, and Michael Hodge, QC, had only begun examining the financial advice sector. AMP executive Anthony Regan was first in the crosshairs.

The 175-year-old financial giant had charged its clients millions of dollars in fees without providing a service in return. While AMP had told regulators it was a mistake, internal documents showed it was really a deliberate policy. Regan, once confident but now sinking ever further into his chair after seven hours in the witness box, ultimately lost count of how many times AMP lied.