“There was no error in his Honour [Justice Mark Moshinsky] concluding the disclosure of the pleaded information would have been viewed by the hypothetical investor as having altered the total mix of information available in such a way as would be expected to have a material effect on the price of value of ANZ shares.”

Chief executive Shayne Elliott told this masthead the bank believed it was important, on principle, to make its case in front of the full bench of the Federal Court to get greater clarity on the laws.

He said the bank had made changes over the past decade to improve its compliance with continuous disclosure obligations, but would consider the judgement and reflect on whether further changes were required.

“It wasn’t about us spending shareholders’ money trying to protect me or our bank’s reputation or anything,” Elliott said.

“The board thought long and hard about that. To some, again, it would have been easier just to walk away and just accept the last one [trial judgement], but we felt this is important. Capital markets are important. It’s important that we have greater clarity and understand the application of the rules and how they apply.”

The decision on Wednesday ends a years-long legal stoush that began when the competition watchdog in 2018 launched an investigation after JP Morgan self-reported to the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission it was involved in an alleged cartel during the capital raising.

That investigation, which alleged bankers agreed over telephone calls how the excess ANZ shares would be offloaded on the market to keep a floor under the bank’s share price, was referred to the Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions. Charges were dropped two years ago.

Longo said he would not comment on ANZ’s compliance culture, which has been under the spotlight amid heightened concerns about its governance, stemming from the bank’s bonds trading scandal. Traders are alleged to have manipulated the benchmark 10-year futures rate when ANZ managed a $14 billion government bond sale last year, potentially costing taxpayers up to $80 million.

Elliott was in 2015 the chief financial officer who oversaw the $2.5 billion capital-raising program.

At a business event in Singapore, where ANZ executives are visiting this week to celebrate the bank’s 50th anniversary, Elliott said the board was investigating whether the poor workplace culture uncovered in the Sydney dealing was confined to a small group of individuals or if they were systemic.

Loading

“We’re looking around the board to say, ‘hey, let’s just make sure that this is isolated’,” Elliott said. “And if we need to change policies, train people … we will.

“You can’t change a culture overnight, and it’s not about what the boss says or what I put on a poster or what we put in training programs. Those things can help in setting direction, culture changes through … a series of interventions and changes over a long period time.”

Elliot told this masthead an external investigation into the bonds trading issue would be completed within the next few months, most likely early in the new year.