Aitken has alleged Westpac’s former consumer and business banking executive Chris de Bruin, who no longer works at Westpac, told her the matter was not significant enough to be disclosed to the board and that he prevented her from disclosing her concerns at a subcommittee meeting in November 2022.

At that time, she claimed she had identified 18 franchises that posed regulatory, reputational and legal risks.

A year later, Aitken had a telephone call with a senior manager who, she claims, told her she would no longer be involved in auditing RAMS’ regulatory compliance.

“The applicant referred to a meeting with ASIC and APRA to be held the following day, where she would be prevented from saying anything about the RAMS concerns, and asked him whether this was appropriate,” the statement of claim alleges.

“[The manager] said that they could seek legal advice or speak to the regulatory affairs team. The applicant asked whether she should copy him to her email to the regulatory affairs team, and [he] responded by again directing the applicant not to put anything in writing.”

Westpac has not yet filed its defence but, in a statement, said it had taken appropriate action in 2022 after the bank identified issues with some RAMS loan applications.

“This action included heightened monitoring of loan applications, investigations into franchisees and the self-reporting of issues to regulators,” a spokesman said.

“The issues raised were acted upon, and Westpac rejects the allegations of breaches of workplace laws. We’ll be defending the case.”

Through a spokesman at Beyond Bank, where Bromwich now works, he said: “As this is a matter before the court between Westpac and its employee, there won’t be any comment.”