The United States and China have reached a framework agreement to switch short-video app TikTok to US-controlled ownership, top US officials say.

President Donald Trump set to speak with Chinese President Xi Jinping on Friday, the officials said on Monday.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent and US Trade Representative Jamieson Greer announced the agreement after a meeting between senior US and Chinese officials in Madrid, but declined to give any of the commercial terms of the agreement.

Bessent told reporters that further details would wait to be determined in a call on Friday between Trump and Xi.

Trump said on Monday that trade talks with China had gone very well and hinted that a deal had been reached to resolve issues the US has over TikTok ownership.

“The big Trade Meeting in Europe between The United States of America, and China, has gone VERY WELL! It will be concluding shortly,” Trump wrote on his TruthSocial platform.

“A deal was also reached on a “certain” company that young people in our Country very much wanted to save. They will be very happy! I will be speaking to President Xi on Friday. The relationship remains a very strong one!!!”

Earlier on Monday a US official with knowledge of the negotiations had said that the US would press ahead with a ban on TikTok if China didn’t drop its demands for reduced tariffs and technological restrictions as part of a divestiture deal.

US and China delegations met to discuss the divestment from TikTok by Chinese owner Bytedance as part of a round of broader talks on tariffs and economic policy taking place in Madrid. TikTok faces being shut down as early as September 17 in the US unless it moves to US ownership.

Speaking to reporters earlier, Bessent and Greer said China wanted concessions on trade and technology in exchange for agreeing to divest from the popular social media app.

“Our Chinese counterparts have come with a very aggressive ask,” Bessent said, adding: “We are not willing to sacrifice national security for a social media app.”

The US-China negotiations at the Spanish foreign ministry’s baroque Palacio de Santa Cruz, which began on Sunday, were the fourth round of talks in four months to address strained trade ties and a looming divestiture deadline for TikTok.

They took place as Washington demands that its allies place tariffs on imports from China over Chinese purchases of Russian oil, which Beijing on Monday said was an attempt at coercion.

Beijing separately announced on Monday that a preliminary investigation of Nvidia had found the US chip giant had violated its anti-monopoly law. Bessent said the announcement on Nvidia was poor timing.

The probe is widely seen as a retaliatory shot against Washington’s curbs on the Chinese chip sector.

A new Australian defence pact elevates Papua New Guinea to the treaty level of the United States and New Zealand, Anthony Albanese says.

The prime minister is visiting Port Moresby this week to sign the pact with counterpart James Marape and attend PNG’s celebrations for its 50th anniversary of independence.

The landmark agreement will “integrate” forces either side of the Torres Strait and could trigger mutual support in cases of conflict.

It will also enable PNG nationals to serve in Australia’s defence force with the same pay as other members and start a pathway to citizenship.

“It’s an upgrade in our security relationship to a treaty level, to the sort of level that we have with the United States and our important allies,” the prime minister told the ABC on Monday.

Details are yet to be revealed, including whether both nations would be compelled to consult each other if they faced a security threat, similar to NATO’s Article Four clause.

“It provides for mutual defence, which means that we will provide support for each other, provide for an integration of our interoperability of our assets and our respective defence forces,” Mr Albanese said.

More detail would be provided once the agreement was signed on Wednesday, he said, following celebrations of the Pacific nation’s golden jubilee.

Mr Albanese praised Mr Marape for showing great leadership and moving forward with Australia, saying the relationship upgrade took place at his suggestion.

Mr Albanese emphasised the two nations were expanding their partnership as equals and had the same vision for a stable and prosperous Pacific.

The treaty speaks to a shared ambition between the two nations, said Defence Minister Richard Marles, who will accompany the prime minister in Port Moresby along with Pacific Minister Pat Conroy.

PNG Defence Minister Billy Joseph said the deal was a “mutual defence treaty” that would have the nations working together to defend each other’s territories.

“We’re not talking about interoperability, we’re talking about totally integrated forces,” he told the ABC.

“Australian Defence Force and PNG Defence Force both working together closely, using the same equipment … fighting together, defending our sovereignties as an integrated force.”

It is PNG’s first defence agreement with another nation and deeply significant for the nation, Lowy Institute research fellow Oliver Nobetau said.

The world was waiting to learn if it included an exclusivity clause, which meant PNG could not pursue similar deals with other countries, such as China, he said.

“We can define that as a sort of the holy grail of security partnerships in the Pacific and if you can get that, it can signal a return to greater regional stability,” Mr Nobetau told AAP.

Australia is competing with China and other nations for influence in the region after having difficulties over security agreements with the Solomons and Vanuatu.

PNG is one of three nations in the Pacific with a military, alongside Fiji and Tonga.

It viewed itself as a “big brother” in the Pacific and was seeking a more dominant role as it marked 50 years since gaining independence from Australia, Mr Nobetau said.

“We may see PNG play a greater role in influencing other countries as well,” he said.

Henry Ivarature, deputy director at the Pacific Security College at the Australian National University, said the treaty was more about Australia getting into trouble with neighbours and calling on PNG for support.

“I don’t think it’s the other way round where PNG gets into strife and Australia will come to its aid.”

But Australian politicians shouldn’t be anxious about PNG’s relationship with Australia, Dr Ivarature told AAP.

Businesses and locals whose lives have been turned upside down by a major manhunt can finally breathe a small sigh of relief with cash help on the way.

They are urging visitors to return to their region, a popular tourist area in Victoria’s high country, which has been decimated by a sharp drop in business.

Travel restrictions have been reduced in Porepunkah and surrounding towns as the search for accused cop killer Dezi Freeman inches closer to its fourth week.

Freeman, 56, is accused of fatally shooting policemen Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart at a property in Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of Melbourne, on August 26 before escaping into bushland.

Businesses that lost money during the search became eligible for $5000 grants on Monday – a day after police lifted travel warnings in the area ahead of school holidays and the AFL grand final long weekend.

The $2.5 million state government assistance package includes money for the local council, chamber of commerce and a marketing campaign to entice visitors back.

The community would receive every support they needed, Victorian Treasurer Jaclyn Symes said.

Mount Buffalo National Park remains closed.

Cherry Walk Cafe owner Leanne Boyd described nearby Bright as a “ghost town” for the past three weeks, with the “unprecedented situation” leaving many businesses without any income. 

Ms Boyd said the empty streets were eerily similar to 2019-20, when the Black Summer bushfires brought the Alpine tourist mecca to a standstill. 

“We’ve got no tourists because everyone has been told to stay away,” she told AAP on Monday.

“But we’ve got people to pay, electricity bills, rent and the ATO – none of that stops … and it’s not just business owners. It’s the people we employ who are losing shifts. It’s the whole community.”

She said businesses in the area were having a bumper season before the shootings, with the best snow in 20 years bringing more tourists to the area.

Local member Tim McCurdy estimated traders in Bright were down 70 to 80 per cent.

The Nationals MP for Ovens Valley said the damage extended as far as Myrtleford, where a bakery had lost 40 per cent of its take. 

Mr McCurdy said the move to lift restrictions was a “massive breakthrough” for businesses that would trigger the region’s economic recovery, but warned it would not happen overnight.

“It’s not as if people start rocking in the door today,” he said.

“If we didn’t get the ban lifted and this went on for another three or four weeks, some businesses would literally close down.”

While police say the region is safe for visitors, Mr McCurdy conceded some could be scared away by the spectre of Freeman.

He called for the Australian Tax Office to provide relief regarding business activity statements.

Victoria Police Acting Deputy Commissioner Russell Barrett said the decision to lift some restrictions struck a balance based on the community’s reliance on tourism.

“We need to work with them to ensure their livelihoods aren’t being impacted by what is a massive search,” he told Nova radio Melbourne on Monday.

The change in restrictions comes days after Victoria Police conducted the largest tactical police operation in Australia’s history, with more than 125 specialist officers from interstate and New Zealand. 

Police refused to say whether the search uncovered any sign of Freeman or evidence he had been in the area since the shootings.

A $1 million reward is being offered for information leading to his capture – the largest financial reward for aiding an arrest in Victoria’s history.

Grubby and unconscionable isn’t a slogan a bank will ever use, but it’s the verdict on ANZ’s conduct from the financial regulator as it imposes record penalties.

The bank on Monday agreed to pay $240 million in fines for four separate acts of wrongdoing, six years after a royal commission found widespread misconduct in Australia’s financial services industry.

The eyewatering sum is the largest punishement the Australia Securities and Investments Commission has handed down to a single entity.

On top of the multi-million dollar repayments, the Finance Sector Union said it would lodge a Fair Work Commission complaint against ANZ, which last week announced plans to cut 3500 jobs and 1000 contractor roles by next September.

“ANZ can find $240 million to pay for unconscionable conduct, yet it’s cutting 3500 staff,” union national secretary Julia Angrisano said.

“It shows a bank that is completely unhinged. Workers and customers are the ones paying the price for executive failure.”

Ms Angrisano said ANZ was a “bank in crisis” and called for federal intervention.

ANZ has admitted to failing to respond to hundreds of notices about customer hardship, making false and misleading statements about its savings interest rates and failing to pay those amounts to customers.

It also mishandled a $14 billion bond deal for the federal government, which ASIC said effectively cost the commonwealth about $26 million.

ANZ said it believed no loss was caused to the commonwealth, but admits it could have handled the job with better communication and offered repayment as a goodwill gesture. 

“It was clearly grubby,” ASIC chairman Joseph Longo said.

“Let’s be frank. They said they were going to follow their own policies and they didn’t.”

ANZ submitted inaccurate data regarding secondary bond turnover for two years to the Australian Office of Financial Management, which had hired the bank as its bond duration manager.  

“None of that conduct is regarded as intentional, but the cumulative effect of it is unconscionable,” Mr Longo said.

He said ANZ had repeated internal failures and several opportunities to rectify its reporting.

“Through a combination of organisational incompetence and a failure to get a grip on their own data and systems and processes, they let themselves down.”

The bank’s other failures included not refunding fees to thousands of dead customers and not responding to deceased estate inquiries from loved ones within the required time frame.

ANZ had admitted to the allegations and taken action, including holding relevant executives accountable, chairman Paul O’Sullivan said.

More than 50 accountability reviews have been completed and some current and former executives have had their pay docked.

Most affected customers – that ANZ has been able to identify – have been remediated, while 56,000 customers due bonus interest from August 2024 to March are expected to be compensated soon.

ANZ has been unable to identify the total number of dead people to whom it charged fees between 2019 and 2023.

The penalties will put more pressure on CEO Nuno Matos, a former HSBC executive who joined the bank in May.

Mr Nuno apologised to affected customers.

“The failings outlined are simply not good enough and they reinforce the case for change,” he said.

“Unfortunately, some of our failings occurred when our customers were at their most vulnerable.

“For this, we are deeply sorry.”

Each matter will be separately considered and determined by the Federal Court.

Climate advocates are using alarming predictions of heatwave deaths, degraded ecosystems and coastal properties lost to rising seas as ammunition for bold emission cuts through to 2035. 

NGOs and federal crossbenchers are among the voices expressing dismay at the long-awaited National Climate Risk Assessment and urging Anthony Albanese’s government to step up.

The report details concerning predictions on heatwaves – already the deadliest natural hazard – with an almost 450 per cent rise in heat-related deaths expected in Sydney under 3C of warming.

Average global temperatures have risen 1.3C above pre-industrial levels and are set to hit 2.7C by the end of the century under current policies.

As many as 1.5 million Australians will be at high risk from cyclones, flooding and erosion by 2050, reflecting densely packed populations living along coastlines.

The natural world will also look very different, with about half the native plant species found in any location expected to change at 3C of warming.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen acknowledged many Australians would find the report confronting as he repeatedly stressed the economic opportunities of cleaner industries.

“If we take action, we can avoid the worst of the impacts,” he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

“If we take action, we can create jobs and investment right across Australia.”

Australia and other signatories to a global climate pact are preparing to update their goals to slash emissions in September.

Australia’s highly anticipated 2035 targets are expected to be revealed soon, with the federal minister confirming he has received advice from the independent Climate Change Authority – guidance the government must consider before setting its goals. 

Updated plans to curb carbon pollution come as the United States winds back its climate ambitions under the Trump administration, including withdrawing from the Paris Agreement.

Mr Bowen refused to comment directly on the policies of other countries, but said the majority remained committed to net zero “in some form”. 

The federal government last week approved the extension of the Woodside North West Shelf gas project in Western Australia to 2070 – a move Labor defended as necessary to ensure sufficient gas for the global energy transition, despite criticism of its emissions burden. 

Independent MP Zali Steggall, who has been vocal on climate risk, described the timing as “hypocrisy”. 

“Days after approving Woodside’s gas expansion, which will only add fuel to the fire of climate change, the government finally releases the national climate risk assessment,” she said.

ACOSS chief executive officer Cassandra Goldie said the report confirmed climate change would hit disadvantaged households hardest and urged the government to “set targets that protect people and communities”.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley and acting shadow minister for emission reductions Ted O’Brien said the 2035 target would need to be “credible” and “upfront about the cost”.

“We need to reduce emissions, but not at any cost,” they said in a joint statement.

The report canvases the economic burden of climate impacts in detail, with $611 billion expected to be wiped off property values by 2050 if little effort is made to adapt and relocate to lower-risk locations.

The burden on taxpayer-funded disaster recovery is also anticipated to surge fivefold towards the end of the century under 2C of warming. 

Australia denies its multi-billion-dollar spending boost for WA shipyards is about appeasing the Trump administration, as defence analysts warn billions more will be needed.

The Albanese government unveiled $12 billion for the Henderson Defence Precinct in Perth, where the nuclear submarines Australia has been promised under the AUKUS security pact will be able to dock.

Uncertainty clouds the nuclear submarine deal, which is being reviewed by the US.

However, US media reports Secretary of State Marco Rubio has provided assurances the deal will proceed.

The Trump administration is pressuring Australia to increase its defence spending to 3.5 per cent of gross domestic product.

Under the $386 billion agreement, Australia will acquire at least three nuclear-powered Virginia-class submarines from the US in the early 2030s before a new fleet of boats is built for delivery from the 2040s.

The increase was about bolstering Australia’s capabilities, not satisfying the US, Defence Minister Richard Marles said.

“It’s also going to be the basis upon which we sustain and maintain our future submarines and that is critically important for the country,” he told Nine’s Today program on Monday.

“What we’re focusing on is the actual dollars that you spend on defence.”

Australia’s defence spend as a share of GDP is about two per cent, with the government pledging to increase it to 2.3 per cent by 2033/34.

Australian National University expert associate Jennifer Parker said a more substantial spending boost would be needed before the next federal budget.

“That’s not a large lift to the defence budget, but it’s important that it does demonstrate that the government is willing to increase the defence budget where it sees a need,” she told AAP.

“I do not think that this very small lift in the defence budget over the next 10 years will satisfy the US.

“We will have to go much further, and not only for the US … because we don’t have the capabilities that we need.”

Opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor welcomed the announcement but said Australia needed to spend more on defence.

“We need to see defence get to three per cent of GDP – that’s about an extra $25 billion a year currently in spending,” he told ABC Radio.

The coalition went to the last federal election pledging to lift defence spending to three per cent.

 Mr Taylor did not say how the coalition would fund the increase.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese could meet US President Donald Trump later in September on the sidelines of the United Nations General Assembly meeting, where he will likely seek assurances about the future of the AUKUS trilateral agreement.

Former Australian Ambassador to the US Arthur Sinodinos noted the significance of announcing the boost before a possible meeting with Mr Trump.

“The timing would be pitched to lay the groundwork and have something to put on the table with the president,” he told AAP.

In return, Mr Albanese would seek assurances of support for AUKUS from the president, Mr Sinodinos said.

Businesses caught up in Australia’s biggest manhunt are pleading for holidaymakers to return to the area before they go broke.

Travel restrictions have been reduced in Porepunkah and surrounding towns as a search for accused cop killer Dezi Freeman inches closer to its fourth week.

Freeman, 56, is accused of fatally shooting policemen Neal Thompson and Vadim de Waart-Hottart at a property in Porepunkah, about 300km northeast of Melbourne, on August 26 before escaping into bushland.

Police on Sunday lifted travel warnings in the area, before school holidays and the AFL grand final long weekend. 

Mount Buffalo National Park remains closed.

Locals celebrated the news, declaring the area open for business. 

Cherry Walk Cafe owner Leanne Boyd described nearby Bright as a “ghost town” over the past three weeks, with the “unprecedented situation” leaving many businesses without an income. 

Ms Boyd said the empty streets were eerily similar to the 2019/20 Black Summer bushfires, which brought the Alpine tourist mecca to a standstill. 

“We’ve got no tourists, because everyone has been told to stay away,” she told AAP on Monday.

“But we’ve got people to pay, electricity bills, rent and the ATO – none of that stops … and it’s not just business owners, it’s the people we employ who are losing shifts, it’s the whole community.”

She said businesses in the area were having a bumper season before the shootings, with the best snow season in 20 years bringing more tourists to the area.

Tim McCurdy, the state MP for the area, estimated traders in Bright were down 70 to 80 per cent.

But the Nationals MP said the damage extended as far as Myrtleford, where a bakery has lost 40 per cent of its take. 

The move to lift restrictions was a “massive breakthrough” for businesses and would trigger the region’s economic recovery but Mr McCurdy warned it wouldn’t happen overnight.

“It’s not as if people start rocking in the door today,” the Ovens Valley MP told AAP.

“It’s still going to take weeks.

“If we didn’t get the ban lifted and this went on for another three or four weeks, some businesses would literally close down.”

While police have said it is safe for visitors, Mr McCurdy conceded some will likely be scared away from the region by the spectre of Freeman.

He is calling for relief from the Australian Tax Office for business activity statements, a tourism campaign and targeted grants for affected traders.

There should also be a funding mechanism for future economic disasters, not just for environmental ones, Mr McCurdy argued.

Victorian minister Harriet Shing was non-committal when asked about possible financial support for impacted businesses but said the government would continue to work with the community.

Acting Deputy Commissioner Russell Barrett said the decision to lift some restrictions was difficult, but suggested it struck a balance based on the community’s reliance on tourism.

“We need to work with them to ensure their livelihoods aren’t being impacted by what is a massive search,” he told Melbourne radio station Nova on Monday.

The change in restrictions comes days after Victoria Police conducted the largest tactical police operation in Australia’s history, with more than 125 specialist police called in from interstate and New Zealand. 

Police refused to say whether the search uncovered any sign of Freeman or evidence he had been in the area since the shootings.

A $1 million reward remains on offer for information leading to his capture, the largest financial offer for aiding an arrest in Victoria’s history.

Australians have been warned of skyrocketing heat-related deaths and plummeting property values from global warming, as the federal government prepares updated goals to cut emissions.

The long-delayed National Climate Risk Assessment contains alarming details, including an expected 444 per cent rise in heat-related deaths in Sydney under 3C of warming.

As many as three million Australians would be at high risk from cyclones, flooding and erosion by 2090, reflecting densely packed populations living along coastlines.

Losses in Australian property values could balloon to $770 billion by 2090 if little effort was made to adapt and relocate to lower-risk locations. 

Average global temperatures have already risen 1.3C above pre-industrial levels and are set to hit 2.7C under current policies.

Climate Change Minister Chris Bowen acknowledged many Australians would find the report “confronting” as he repeatedly stressed the economic opportunities of clean industries and decarbonisation.

“If we take action, we can avoid the worst of the impacts,” he told reporters in Canberra on Monday.

“If we take action, we can create jobs and investment right across Australia.”

Australia and other signatories to a global climate pact are getting ready to update their goals to slash emissions this month.

Australia’s highly anticipated 2035 targets are expected to be revealed in coming days after the federal minister confirmed he had received advice from the independent Climate Change Authority – guidance the government must consider before setting its goals. 

Updated plans to curb carbon pollution come as the United States winds back its climate ambitions under the Trump administration.

Mr Bowen refused to comment directly on the policies of other countries, but said the majority remained committed to net zero “in some form”. 

Monday’s risk assessment warns no community will be spared from the impacts of climate change, suggesting the effects will span areas as diverse as agriculture, health and national security.

“Future changes in Australia’s climate will not occur gradually or smoothly,” the report’s overview warns.

The first-of-its-kind document modelled how global warming will impact individual communities, the nation’s economy and the environment under three different scenarios of warming.

If global temperatures increase by an average of 3C compared to pre-industrial levels, the report predicts a dramatic spike in the number of Australians who will die during heatwaves.

Floods are also expected to become more frequent as sea levels rise.

Tropical cyclones are forecast to hit Australia less often, but there is a possibility they will become more severe and shift slightly farther south.

Some of the national forecasts are also highly uncertain. 

Under 3C of warming, the amount of time spent in drought, for example, is given a range spanning from a 15 per cent reduction to an 89 per cent increase.

Forecasts at a local level are more precise.

Climate Council chief executive officer Amanda McKenzie said the findings “should keep ministers up at night”.

“The first step is legislating the strongest possible 2035 climate target and stopping new polluting projects.”

The government is also releasing the National Adaptation Plan, a separate report outlining how Australia can mitigate some of the risks posed by global warming.

But it warns some risks, such as sea level rises, are unavoidable and Australians will have to learn to live with the change.

Senior Liberals admit the party has a mountain to climb to win back voters after the coalition plunged to its worst-ever primary vote in Newspoll history.

The poll published on Monday shows the coalition sitting on a primary vote of 27 per cent, the lowest level since Newspoll began tracking first preferences in 1985.

Labor’s primary vote was steady at 36 per cent, giving Prime Minister Anthony Albanese a commanding 58 per cent to 42 per cent two-party-preferred lead – his biggest margin since taking office.

Opposition defence spokesman Angus Taylor said the party needed to restore trust with voters, after the poll was published in The Australian on Monday.

“We’re still a long way from the next election, but we have a lot of work to do, and there’s no doubt about that,” he told ABC Radio.

“The whole team needs to buckle down and get on with the hard work of rebuilding and putting ourselves in a position where we have policies that are in line with our core Liberal values and are competitive for the next election.”

The poll slump for the coalition followed a week of controversy triggered by Jacinta Nampijinpa Price’s comments on Indian migrants and her eventual sacking from the shadow cabinet by Opposition Leader Sussan Ley after she declined to back her when questioned by reporters.

Mr Taylor said the Liberals wanted the Northern Territory senator – who had implied in an interview with the ABC that the government was allowing in a lot of Indian migrants because they voted Labor – to stay with the party.

“We desperately need to rebuild the party at a difficult time. Jacinta is a talented member of the Senate, a valued member of our team,” he said.

Deputy Liberal leader Ted O’Brien conceded the past week had been a tough one for the opposition. 

“Politics builds big egos, but I tell you, it also gives you some good lessons in humility and we’re learning those lessons now,”he told Nine’s Today program.

“But I’ve got every confidence that we’re going to be coming back and we will take a compelling proposition to the Australian people at the election and that’s the poll that matters.”

Independent senator Jacqui Lambie suggested that if the coalition’s polling doesn’t turn around, Ms Ley could face a leadership challenge by Christmas. 

The Newspoll also found One Nation appeared to have reaped the rewards of voter dissatisfaction with the coalition, with its primary vote climbing to 10 per cent from 6.4 per cent at the May 3 federal election.

“They are the camouflage for the far, far right of the Liberal party,” Senator Lambie said of One Nation’s polling. 

“I’m not sure the way she (Ley) is going right now, with all due respect, is that she’s going to last until Christmas time.”

The Greens lifted to their primary vote to 13 per cent, while support for independents and other minor parties rose to 14 per cent.

Ms Ley’s personal standing took a hit, with her net approval rating sliding to minus 17, with only 32 per cent of voters satisfied with her performance. 

She trailed Mr Albanese 31-51 per cent as preferred prime minister. 

But Mr Albanese’s approval also dipped, falling into negative territory at minus five, though he maintains a solid lead.

While Ms Ley’s colleagues have dismissed talk of a challenge, she has sought to reassert control after unveiling a reshuffled frontbench that promoted conservatives Claire Chandler and Simon Kennedy and reinstated James Paterson to her leadership group.

The Newspoll data echo the latest Resolve Political Monitor, published on Monday in Nine newspapers.

It also had the coalition’s primary vote at 27 per cent – the lowest result since that survey began in 2021. 

Labor slipped two points to 35 per cent, while One Nation surged to a record 12 per cent.

On a two-party-preferred basis, Labor leads 55-45, unchanged from the May election. 

A major Australian bank will cough up $240 million in fines for “widespread misconduct” as it vows to hold executives accountable.

ANZ has admitted to failing to respond to hundreds of notices about customer hardship, making false and misleading statements about its savings interest rates and failing to pay those amounts to customers.

Two bonus interest issues, one dating back to 2013, affected 251,000 customers.

The financial services watchdog also said the Big Four bank acted “unconscionably” while managing a $14 billion bond deal in services with the federal government after incorrectly reporting bond trading data and overstating volumes by tens of billions of dollars for years.

Even the dead were not spared, with ANZ failing to refund fees to thousands of deceased customers and not responding to deceased estates inquiries from loved ones within the required time frame.

“Time and time again, ANZ betrayed the trust of Australians,” Australian Securities and Investments Commission chair Joe Longo said.

“Banks must have the trust of customers and government. 

“This outcome shows an unacceptable disregard for that trust that is critical to the banking system.”

The penalties are the largest announced by ASIC against one entity, according to Mr Longo.

ANZ has admitted to the allegations and taken action, including holding relevant executives accountable, chairman Paul O’Sullivan said.

More than 50 accountability reviews have been completed and some current and former executives have had their pay docked.

Most affected customers – that ANZ has been able to identify – have been remediated, while 56,000 customers due bonus interest from August 2024 to March are expected to be compensated soon.

ANZ, however, has been unable to identify the total number of deceased people to whom it charged fees between 2019 and 2023.

The penalties will put more pressure on CEO Nuno Matos, who came under fire last week after announcing ANZ would lay off 3500 staff and 1000 contractors by September 2026.

Mr Nuno apologised to affected customers.

“The failings outlined are simply not good enough and they reinforce the case for change,” he said.

“Unfortunately, some of our failings occurred when our customers were at their most vulnerable.

“For this, we are deeply sorry.”

Each matter will be separately considered and determined by the Federal Court.