(24 May 2018 – Australia) The Australian Federal Court has ruled that while Westpac engaged in unconscionable conduct in relation to the BBSW rate, the bank had not engaged in market manipulation and misleading conduct.
Justice Jonathan Beach said Westpac’s conduct had a “real and not remote” chance of harming counterparties in the markets, and the bank had breached its licence conditions.
However the allegations of market manipulation and misleading conduct, brought against the bank by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, were dismissed.
The decision was claimed as a win of sorts by both the bank and ASIC, which has now had some success against all four major domestic banks over their behaviour in the BBSW market.