ANZ faces repaying borrowers $125 million after losing class action
Tuesday, 5 May 2026
ANZ says it has lost the class action lawsuit over disclosure mistakes it made on 17,000 home loans, and may have to repay borrowers up to $125 million.
In a statement, ANZ chief executive Antonia Watson said the bank was disappointed with the court’s findings and might appeal.
The High Court has awarded summary judgment against ANZ for failures under lending laws designed to ensure borrowers understood their loan contacts and obligations.
ASB had been included in the class action, but it settled with claimants in October last year for $135.6m.
Watson said ANZ was considering the judgment, and indicated the bank might appeal.
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“We opposed the claim because we felt strongly that the law was not intended to operate in the way the plaintiffs and the litigation funders suggested,” Watson said.
“We maintain that the potential consequences under the current law are disproportionate and not aligned with any actual harm caused.”
The class action case against ANZ NZ related to around 17,000 customers who on average underpaid their mortgages by $2 a month between 2015 and 2016.
A hearing was held at the High Court in Auckland in March, during which even the judge referred to the outcome sought by claimants in the class action as “pretty extreme”.
The multimillion-dollar class action was taken under 2014 amendments to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA) 2003, introduced under Prime Minister John Key, who went on to become chair of ANZ in New Zealand after he left office.
Under those laws, lenders have to repay fees and interest they charge to borrowers for any period in which they failed to meet their disclosure obligations.
Counsel for the borrowers Davey Salmon KC argued at the hearing that the 2014 amendments were designed to “fortify” lending laws to ensure borrowers were not misled over how much their loans would cost, and the terms of their loan contracts.
Salmon said accurate disclosure was a “gateway” requirement for lenders to “play in the market”, and the “extreme and harsh” consequence of having to repay fees and interest was exactly what Parliament intended.
ANZ, and other banks, lobbied for law changes, and for those law changes to be retrospective, but an attempt to pass retrospective laws by Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson was defeated.
Watson said the bank self-reported the issue, she said, and paid more than $35 million to affected customers.
“As a result, all customers were left better off than they would have been if the issue had not occurred,” she said.
The errors in the loan variation letters it sent to borrowers during the were minor and technical, and the financial impact on customers was very small, she said.
The class action was a “representative” action, and the High Court found the bank liable to repay the representative plaintiffs the costs of borrowing on their loans, which added up to $32,728.42.
In its statement, ANZ said it was considering how the judgment would apply to other members of the class, and that the bank’s estimate of its maximum potential liability for repaying costs of borrowing was approximately $125m.
The case was launched in 2021 by solicitor Scott Russell, and has been funded by litigation lender LPF.