AMP, Asteron and Westpac have been singled out by ASIC for having higher than expected decline rates for total and permanent disability life insurance claims, in a new review by the corporate watchdog that also revealed a “concerningly high” 60 per cent rejection rate for some narrowly defined policies.
ANZ has rejected allegations by the financial regulator that $35 million in fees charged to customers for periodical payments between accounts was unlawful, saying the regulator’s case extended the scope of false and misleading representation claims.
ANZ has announced it will set aside an additional $485 million to remediate customers affected by its fees and interest calculations, just days after NAB told shareholders it would set aside a further $1.18 billion to compensate customers affected by dodgy fees and advice.
Westpac has offered an appeals court two more reasons to affirm its victory in a closely watched responsible lending case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission over almost 262,000 home loans.
ASIC and other government regulators bringing enforcement action in the docket of one Federal Court judge must abide by a strict new protocol to prevent a repeat of the corporate watchdog’s “wait and see” strategy in a case against ex-Murray Goulburn directors that came close, the judge said, to bringing the administration of justice into disrepute.
A judge has refused a bid by two former Murray Goulburn executives to throw out a disqualification case brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, despite admonishing the corporate regulator for its delay in bringing the case and establishing a protocol for regulators filing cases in his docket.
Comments made by the director of three firms accused of pushing life insurance onto vulnerable consumers during the banking royal commission may come back to haunt him in a civil penalties proceeding brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission.
Commonwealth Bank of Australia’s insurance unit, CommInsure, is facing 87 criminal charges for allegedly hawking life insurance products in unsolicited telephone calls.
The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has won its bid to use evidence from US proceedings in its case against Rio Tinto alleging the mining giant misled shareholders about a Mozambique mining company purchased for US$4.2 billion.
Payday lender Cigno is appealing the Australian Securities and Investments Commission’s first action under new powers to ban financial products that targeted its model of short-term credit lending.