ANZ Group announced that its investigation into bond sales, currently under a regulatory probe, has found errors in trade data reporting but no evidence of market manipulation. As Australia’s fourth-largest bank by assets, ANZ is committed to uncovering any irregularities in its bond trading operations and holding those responsible accountable.
The bank is considering actions against senior executives, including CEO Shayne Elliott, for the misleading trading data. Elliott stated, “We have reviewed recent data submissions and, although ongoing work is required, we don’t believe there are material issues with the data submitted.”
ANZ admitted to overstating the value of government bonds traded by over A$50 billion ($33.81 billion) over a year, prompting an investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC). ANZ is also examining whether it should have reported the issue to the corporate regulator sooner.
Data anomalies were attributed to process and data extraction errors, leading to the inclusion of incorrect transactions and double counting. ANZ confirmed it reported incorrect data on monthly secondary bond turnover for the fiscal year through September 2023.
Market analyst Tim Waterer highlighted the uncertainty regarding the potential financial fallout for the bank. ANZ’s share price fell by 0.9% to A$29.24 ($19.17).
The Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM) and ASIC have yet to comment further.