Which banks paid the highest penalties in Australia in H1

Penalties were doled out for misreporting and for failed responses to hardship requests.

The Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) has secured $336.5m (A$480m) in civil penalties against major banks, super trustees, and other financial services firms in the first six months of 2026.

Banks fined include HSBC and Westpac. Other firms fined include Union Standard, Macquarie Securities, and Mercer Super, ASIC said in a statement on 20 July 2026.

HSBC Bank Australia and Westpac were ordered to pay $24.54m (A$35m) and $18.23m (A$26m), respectively—HSBC for misreporting millions of short sales and data, and Westpac for failures to respond to customer hardship requests, ASIC said.

Together with the A$350m ordered during the period, civil penalty orders by ASIC now total A$830m for the 2025-2026 financial year.

Of this, $451.45m (A$644m) will be paid back to Australians.

ASIC launched over 250 investigations in the H1 period and saw 25 criminal convictions. ASIC secured nearly A$40m in refunds to CFD investors

Collapsed foreign exchange broker Union Standard paid a record A$300m penalty for serious contracts for difference (CFD) misconduct and failures affecting retail investors, ASIC said. Union Standard had collapsed.