ARTICLE · 03 FEBRUARY 2020

Westpac: The Issues, Regulators And Lessons To Be Learnt

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Since the Royal Commission was established to inquire and report on misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry in Australia...

AustraliaCorporate/Commercial Law

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Since the Royal Commission was established to inquire and report on misconduct in the banking, superannuation and financial services industry in Australia (on December 2017 )¹, it has been revealed that several banks have been involved in fraudulent and criminal conduct, one of them being Westpac Banking Corporation.

One of the more egregious acts of misconduct, according to the Royal Commission, was Westpac filling out loan forms and documents on behalf of its clients. Westpac was quick to acknowledge that it was normal practice for staff to help clients fill out documents on their behalf. However, after further investigation, there was evidence to suggest that the bank falsely witnessed documents and marked documents without client approval and acknowledgement².

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