The Code Compliance Monitoring Committee’s 2014–15 Annual Report reviews breaches of the Code of Banking Practice.

As in previous years, the main type of allegation received by the CCMC fell into two categories: the key commitment to act fairly and reasonably towards customers, and banks’ obligations to assist customers who are experiencing financial difficulty. These allegations primarily concerned credit contracts, particularly the adequacy of banks’ credit assessments, and the assistance provided to customers unable to meet their loan repayments.

According to the CCMC annual report, the 13 member banks self-reported 16 significant breaches of the Code during the year to June – double the number in the previous year. These breaches affected 150,000 customers.

The CCMC has observed that the increase in significant breaches reported in 2014–15 may reflect that banks have improved their monitoring and identification of breaches as well as greater awareness of code obligations among staff.

A large proportion of these significant breaches related to IT systems issues, either within the bank or with third–party providers.