Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Westpac Banking Corporation (Omnibus)

• Jurisdiction: Australia Federal only
• Court: Federal Court
• Judgment Date: 22 April 2022
• Neutral Citation: [2022] FCA 515
• Date: 22 April 2022

FEDERAL COURT OF AUSTRALIA

Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Westpac Banking Corporation (Omnibus) [2022] FCA 515

File numbers:	VID 704 of 2021VID 705 of 2021VID 707 of 2021NSD 1239 of 2021NSD 1240 of 2021NSD 1241 of 2021
Judgment of:	BEACH J
Date of judgment:	22 April 2022
Catchwords:	CORPORATIONS – provision of financial services – regulatory proceedings – six proceedings brought by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission – contraventions by Westpac Banking Corporation and its subsidiaries – numerous breaches of the Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) and Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) – dealings with de-registered company accounts and funds held therein – charging of advice fees to accounts of deceased customers – charging of contribution fees with respect to investment or superannuation products without proper disclosure documents – improper provision and charging for duplicate insurance policies to customers – insurance policies issued without consent – false and misleading representations and misleading and deceptive representations concerning the sale to debt purchasers of customers’ debts relating to Westpac-branded cards, Westpac-branded loans and St George-branded cards – improper deduction of insurance fees including commissions – conflicted remuneration – assessment of pecuniary penalties and other relief – financial services laws – breaches of Australian financial services licence – non-compliance with s 912A of the Corporations Act – contraventions of ss 12CB, 12DA, 12DB, 12DI and 12DM of the ASIC Act – contraventions of ss 912A, 962P, 963K and 1041H of the Corporations Act – orders and declarations made in each of the six proceedings
Legislation:	Corporations Act 2001 (Cth) ss 760A, 761A, 763A, 763B, 763C, 763D, 764A, 765A, 766A, 766B, 766C, 912A, 912B, 962A, 962B, 962C, 962D, 962P, 963A, 963B, 963C, 963F, 963L, 963K, 1041H, 1101B, 1317E, 1317G, 1528 Australian Securities and Investments Commission Act 2001 (Cth) ss 12BA, 12BAA, 12BAB, 12CB, 12CC, 12DA, 12DB, 12DI, 12DM, 12GBA, 12GBB, 12GBCA 12GBCL(b), 12GLA, 322, 327
Cases cited:	Australian Building and Construction Commissioner v Pattinson [2022] HCA 13 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Cement Australia Pty Ltd (2017) 258 FCR 312 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Hillside (Australia New Media) Pty Ltd (t/as Bet365 (No 2) [2016] FCA 698 Australian Competition and Consumer Commission v Medibank Private Ltd (2018) 267 FCR 544 Australian Securities and Investments Commission v AGM Markets Pty Ltd (in liquidation) (No 3) (2020) 275 FCR 57 Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Commonwealth Bank of Australia [2020] FCA 790 Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Kobelt (2019) 368 ALR 1 Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Westpac Banking Corporation (No 3) (2018) 131 ACSR 585 Australian Securities and Investments Commission v Westpac Securities Administration Ltd (2019) 272 FCR 170 Commonwealth v Director, Fair Work Building Industry Inspectorate (2015) 258 CLR 482 Stubbings v Jams 2 Pty Ltd [2022] HCA 6
Division:	General Division
Registry:	Victoria
National Practice Area:	Commercial and Corporations
Sub-area:	Regulator and Consumer Protection
Number of paragraphs:	567
Date of hearing:	8, 20, 21 and 22 April 2022
VID 704 of 2021
Counsel for the Plaintiff:	Mr P H Solomon QC and Ms A M Folie
Solicitor for the Plaintiff:	Australian Government Solicitor
Counsel for the Defendant:	Ms K Morgan SC and Ms Z Hillman
Solicitor for the Defendant:	Allens
VID 705 of 2021
Counsel for the Plaintiff:	Mr P H Solomon QC, Mr M Hosking and Ms S Hogan
Solicitor for the Plaintiff:	Australian Government Solicitor
Counsel for the Defendant:	Dr R Higgins SC and Mr J Hutton
Solicitor for the Defendant:	Allens
VID 707 of 2021
Counsel for the Applicant:	Ms R L Enbom QC and Mr D R Luxton
Solicitor for the Applicant:	Maddocks Lawyers
Counsel for the Respondents:	Ms K Morgan SC and Ms Z Hillman
Solicitor for the Respondents:	King & Wood Mallesons
NSD 1239 of 2021
Counsel for the Plaintiff:	Mr L K Crowley QC and Mr D Healey
Solicitor for the Plaintiff:	Australian Securities and Investments Commission
Counsel for the Defendant:	Ms K Morgan SC
Solicitor for the Defendant:	Gilbert + Tobin
NSD 1240 of 2021
Counsel for the Plaintiff:	Mr Y Shariff SC and Mr T Kane
Solicitor for the Plaintiff:	Maddocks Lawyers
Counsel for the Defendants:	Dr R Higgins SC and Ms A Smith
Solicitor for the Defendants:	Ashurst
NSD 1241 of 2021
Counsel for the Plaintiff:	Ms D Hogan-Doran SC, Mr J Hewitt and Ms K Petch
Solicitor for the Plaintiff:	Australian Government Solicitor
Counsel for the Defendant:	Mr D F C Thomas SC and Ms A Smith
Solicitor for the Defendant:	Allens

ORDERS

		VID 707 of 2021
BETWEEN:	AUSTRALIAN SECURITIES AND INVESTMENTS COMMISSION Applicant
AND:	WESTPAC BANKING CORPORATION (ACN 007 457 141) (and others named in the Schedule) Respondents

order made by:	BEACH J
DATE OF ORDER:	22 April 2022

THE COURT NOTES THAT:

In these orders, the following definitions apply:

“Advice Licensees” means the first, second and third respondents;

“Affected...