Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson. Photo: VNP / Phil Smith
The government will exclude the ongoing class action court case against ANZ Bank as part of retrospective changes to the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act.
The amendment included a retrospective fix that would see banks avoid a blanket penalty over disclosure breaches between 2015 and 2019.
The bill prompted concerns that it would affect a class action suit against banks over the breaches.
ASB settled the case for nearly $136 million earlier this month, while legal action against ANZ continued.
The Finance and Expenditure Committee recommended the government exempt ongoing court cases from the retrospective fixes, meaning the ANZ case would remain before the courts.
"While retrospective law change is unusual, in this case I believe it is justified," Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Scott Simpson said.
"Through the Select Committee process, it was suggested that ongoing court cases be exempt from these provisions. The Committee considered this carefully and recommended that approach, and the government parties agree," Simpson said.
ANZ said it was disappointed its case was not included, which it said did not apply the law equally and was unfair.
"It's good that MPs agree the law is potentially unfair and want to change it for the period from 2015 to 2019. But to be consistent they should have changed it for all," ANZ chief executive Antonia Watson said.
"It's surprising that MPs are saying it's OK for a court case to go ahead under what was recognised as potentially bad law by Parliament in 2019, and confirmed again by the Select Committee."
ANZ said it was "confident of its position" regarding the current court case, and looked forward to having the matter determined by the court.
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