ANZ fires, suspends traders amid alleged dealing misconduct

ANZ Bank chief executive officer Shayne Elliott said the bank has suspended and terminated traders in the wake of allegations about misconduct in its bond trading division, as well as made management changes in its Sydney dealing room.

The lender made job changes for several employees that included suspension, termination and a formal warning, according to a statement on Thursday.

ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott said he had delivered a “personal apology” for the bank misleading the Australian Office of Financial Management about its bond trading activity.Credit: Arsineh Houspian

Elliott said in a statement that the ANZ board would “lead a process to ensure consequences will be applied to senior executives, both past and present, including myself, where appropriate”.

The bank has hired a specialist external counsel to investigate the matter following allegations that it overstated bond dealings in order to win mandates. It’s also facing an investigation into irregularities surrounding the sale of a government bond last year, as well as an inquiry into behavioural conduct in its markets division.

“My immediate priority is to ensure the investigations are completed in a timely manner, that action is taken against any individuals who have not met the required standards and that the necessary steps are taken to ensure these conduct failures do not re-occur,” Elliott said in the statement.

“Importantly, we are not limiting our reviews and will address any conduct that is not in line with our expectations,” he said.

ANZ has told the Australian Office of Financial Management that it submitted incorrect bond turnover data in the 2022-23 financial year and that the errors were caused by a range of issues.Credit: Will Willitts

ANZ has told the Australian Office of Financial Management that it submitted incorrect bond turnover data in the 2022-23 financial year and that the errors were caused by a range of issues. The bank knows this was an unacceptable failure, the statement said. Elliott said he tasked his internal audit team to review the governance and control frameworks.

“I have personally apologised to the chief executive at AOFM for ANZ’s failures,” Elliott said. “We are significantly enhancing our governance process around this data, including building a separate validation tool and increasing training for relevant staff. We had already strengthened our breach reporting process through system improvements,” he said.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission, the nation’s regulator, is investigating the execution of a 2023 Treasury bond sale. ANZ’s own initial analysis hasn’t identified any evidence of market manipulation, the statement said. Still, ANZ said it doesn’t have all the information that ASIC does and this position will be reviewed in coming months.

Bloomberg

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