ANZ CEO Shayne Elliott appeared before the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics.

Thank you for the opportunity to speak before you today.

Accompanying me is Maile Carnegie, Group Executive for our Australia Retail business.

Maile and I are eager to discuss issues such as the cost of living, scams, and interest rates with you.

However, before we delve into these topics, I would like to address recent developments concerning ANZ.

Last Friday, APRA announced an increase in ANZ’s capital add-on due to concerns about our non-financial risk management practices.

We acknowledge these concerns.

We have been working on improving our management of non-financial risk for some time.

While we have made positive progress with this program, it is clear that more work remains to be done.

Additionally, we are collaborating with APRA on the scope of an independent culture and control review within our Markets business, which will report to the Board.

APRA’s announcement coincides with three issues in parts of our Markets business:

1. Data reporting errors related to information provided to the Australian Office of Financial Management (AOFM).
2. An investigation by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) into our involvement in a Treasury bond issuance in 2023.
3. Conduct and behavioral issues primarily within our Sydney dealing room.

Regarding the data reporting issue, I have personally apologized to the Chief Executive of AOFM, and we are reviewing and improving our processes.

Concerning ASIC’s investigation into the bond issuance, we are treating this matter with the utmost seriousness.

We have conducted detailed work in connection with this matter and continue to examine the issues.

There has been speculation that potential misconduct by ANZ in relation to this issuance may have cost taxpayers.

Based on the information I have seen, there is no evidence to support this claim.

However, I acknowledge that we do not possess all the information ASIC has, and our position will be reviewed in the coming months.

Regarding the conduct issues, a broad number of allegations have been externally examined.

As a result, three individuals have left the bank.

The ANZ Board is closely monitoring the APRA and Markets matters, and work is ongoing.

The Board will ensure that appropriate consequences are enforced for any proven failures or misconduct.

As the Committee may understand, there are limitations to how much I can discuss these matters today.

Nevertheless, I assure the Committee that we are addressing them with the utmost seriousness.

Moving on to how our customers are coping with the current economic climate, it appears that the nation is emerging from a challenging period of inflation.

The price increases that have been burdening Australians are beginning to moderate, and Wednesday’s CPI figure provided further welcome news.