ANZ vows to fight on after ASB settles class action lawsuit for $135.6 million

Tuesday, 7 October 2025

ANZ does not plan to settle the class action lawsuit it faces.

ANZ has vowed to continue defending the class action law suit against it over historic loan disclosure errors, it despite rival bank ASB settling similar claims.

On Tuesday, ASB agreed to settle a class action lawsuit claim against it for $135.6 million, without the bank admitting liability, though the settlement still needed to be approved by the High Court.

But ANZ said it had no intention of settling the claims against it from ANZ loan customers, calling the ASB settlement a “commercial decision for them”.

“ANZ NZ will continue to defend its case. Our position hasn’t changed,” a spokesperson said.

The class action law suits were taken under laws introduced in 2015, which were designed to ensure borrowers were not misled over how much their loans would cost them, and the terms of their loan contracts.

The class action was seeking to have the High Court order ASB and ANZ to repay all the fees and interest the banks charged borrowers during the period in which they failed to meet their disclosure requirements between 2015 and 2019.

ANZ chief executive Antonia Watson reiterated her claim at select committee that the bank did not make super profits.

The 2015 law was introduced in 2015 under Prime Minister John Key, who went on to be chairperson of ANZ in New Zealand.

But ASB’s settlement came just months after the Government announced it would change the law to allow the court to decide on the penalty the banks should face, rather than having to repay all the fees and interest the banks charged borrowers during the period in which they failed to meet their disclosure requirements.

ANZ backed the law change, and in July its chief executive Antonia Watson told MPs it would be “clearly unfair” for roughly 17,000 borrowers who the bank had undercharged in 2015 to get “free” loans.

The ANZ spokesperson said: “The potential consequences under the current law are disproportionate and not aligned with any actual harm caused.”

“While we think the court already has discretion to decide on consequences, the CCCFA Amendment Bill simply makes this crystal clear,” the spokesperson said.

“Parliament has already recognised that the CCCFA is flawed and amended the law in 2019. But it didn’t make changes for the period between 2015 and 2019. The Bill before Parliament corrects that position to make it clear that the law should be the same whether an event happened before or after 2019,” she said.

ANZ NZ had already been investigated by the Commerce Commission over the issues covered by the class action, after it self-reported them, she said.

It paid more than $35m to affected customers, leaving them all better off than they would have been if the issue hadn’t occurred, she said.