Australia's ASIC sues Commonwealth Bank over CommBiz overcharging

Australia's corporate regulator ASIC has launched civil penalty proceedings against Commonwealth Bank of Australia, alleging about 42,000 CommBiz business customers were overcharged roughly A$8.5 million through fees the platform's terms did not accurately disclose.

Why it matters: ASIC alleges the misleading terms were in place for about 19 years, since CommBiz launched in 2006, and that customer complaints from 2015 and a 2016 internal audit flagged the problem long before the bank stopped charging the fees in 2025.

Data as of Reuters report read in full via the estate browser route and corroborated by Australian Associated Press, both reporting ASIC's proceeding as announced on Thursday November 12, 2026; ASIC's own media release was not read directly in this pass. CBA's response is as reported by Reuters. Developing item.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission said it has begun civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Commonwealth Bank of Australia, alleging the bank’s CommBiz terms and conditions failed to accurately disclose all fees charged on direct debit and direct credit transactions, overcharging about 42,000 business customers by roughly A$8.5 million between November 2020 and May 31, 2025. ASIC is seeking declarations, pecuniary penalties and adverse publicity orders, and says the bank ceased charging the fees in June 2025 and has waived them since February 2026.

CBA said it had self-reported the matter and cooperated fully with ASIC’s investigation, but does not accept some of the allegations and expects to defend certain aspects of the claim. The case is the first major action under ASIC chair Sarah Court, who took office on June 1.

Australia's ASIC sues Commonwealth Bank over CommBiz overcharging

Sources