Banking Class Action Welcomes Move To Exclude ANZ Case From CCCFA Amendment

The Banking Class Action welcomes the Finance & Expenditure Select Committee’s recommendation that the proposed retrospective clause in the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance (Amendment) Bill should not apply to the long-running Banking Class Action currently before the courts.

Scott Russell, lawyer for the plaintiffs, said the Committee’s recommendation to exclude the Banking Class Action follows a comprehensive review of thousands of submissions and recognises what legal experts, consumer advocates and business leaders have all said for months - that applying a retrospective change in law to an active court case being taken on behalf of ordinary New Zealand customers was never in the public interest and lacked any credible rationale.

“We welcome the Select Committee’s recognition that Parliament should not intervene in an active court case,” said Russell. “This was in the face of extensive lobbying by the banking sector to have the retrospective change apply to the Banking Class Action.”

“This recommendation preserves the rights of consumers to have their claims against ANZ properly determined by the courts under the law as it stood when the relevant events occurred.” The plaintiffs’ claims against ANZ are to be heard in the High Court in March 2026.

Russell added that there was never any credible rationale for applying the retrospective changes to the Banking Class Action.

“Every justification for making the proposed change has proven to be false. Despite claims that the financial system would be at risk if the law was not changed, the Reserve Bank’s analysis explicitly cautioned that “these results do not immediately suggest a systemic effect” and further noted that the high-end estimates relied upon by MBIE were “speculative compared to the scenarios we have outlined which are anchored in two real-world scenarios.”

“We commend the Committee for recognising that fairness and the rule of law must come before corporate interests, and we urge Parliament to take on board their recommendations.”

The Banking Class Action was filed in 2021. It alleges ANZ breached key consumer disclosure obligations under the CCCFA.

The Finance & Expenditure Select Committee Final Report can be downloaded here: FINAL REPORT CREDIT CONTRACTS AND CONSUMER FINANCE (AMENDMENT) BILL

Notes:

1. Reserve Bank of New Zealand, OIA2526_14 / Ref #21710347 (September 2024), paragraph 12

2. Reserve Bank of New Zealand, OIA2526_14 / Ref #21710347 – paragraph 10

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