In the wake of the royal commission, APRA had asked a number of the major banks, superannuation funds and insurance companies to each complete a self-assessment, looking at their own behaviour and operations.
All of the big four except ANZ have published their evaluations, with Westpac being the last to do so in July.
ANZ, however, insisted that it is up to the regulator when its assessment goes public, with chair David Gonski noting in his statement the bank has “respected that”.
FSU national secretary Julia Angrisano concluded the report must be egregious if the bank has avoided publishing it, calling it the “perpetuation of a cult of secrecy”.
The union is sceptical about Mr Gonski’s statement, which noted that ANZ will involve staff in reforming its culture, because of the bank’s recent dispute with staff in negotiations for an enterprise agreement.
“It is offensive for the ANZ to suggest it will now start listening to its staff,” Ms Angrisano said.
“In the past, staff have been ignored, shut down and had their careers ruined for speaking out against management.”
Mr Gonski had listed a number of issues identified in the self-assessment, including a culture of complacency, a lack of accountability and reliance on short-term fixes.
ANZ has developed a “roadmap” to address its issues and move forward, and through its successful implementation, it plans to have an additional $500 million capital overlay imposed by APRA removed.
Ms Angrisano said staff were aware of the bank’s failings, and hiding the full extent of its problems was not the way to rebuild public confidence.
“In the same way that ANZ has refused to negotiate with its staff, denying them democratic rights and unilaterally changing their pay model, ANZ has once again failed to meet community expectations of openness and transparency,” she said.
“What the ANZ should be doing is demonstrating it is serious about delivering real reform. Instead, the true facts about the bank’s culture and governance are being hidden.
“ANZ should face up to its dark past and come clean like others in the financial services sector, which made public their self-assessments and self-governance.”
Sarah Simpkins
Sarah Simpkins is a journalist at Momentum Media, reporting primarily on banking, financial services and wealth.
Prior to joining the team in 2018, Sarah worked in trade media and produced stories for a current affairs program on community radio.
You can contact her on [email protected].
