The surprise announcement came 24 hours after the bank's chairman Catherine Livingstone told media that incoming CEO Mr Comyn was unlikely to have to deal with any new scandals.

On Monday the bank submitted a 50-page report detailing instances of misconduct at the bank stretching back 10 years to the Hayne Royal Commission.

A report into the governance, culture and accountability frameworks at the bank is due to be handed to the banking regulator the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority tomorrow.

It will also occupy much of the incoming ASIC chairman James Shipton's time, who is due to start in the job on Thursday, February 1.

Drawn into scandal

Commonwealth Bank is the last of the big four banks to be drawn into the scandal after ANZ and NAB settled with the regulator at the last minute.

ANZ and NAB paid $50 million each to settle the case with the payment consisting of a fine, costs and a donation. The fine component amounted to around $1 million per breach.

Westpac chose to fight the allegations and is awaiting a judgment from Justice Jonathan Beach.


The action follows rumours that the regulator was preparing to take action against the bank in the lead up to Christmas following two months of hearings in ASIC's case against Westpac.

Westpac traders including Sophie "The Perfumed Steamroller" Johnston, Colin "The Rat" Roden, Patrick "The Sherriff" Stokes and Daniel "Bench" Park were among those to give evidence.

The roles and identities of Commonwealth Bank's traders of bank bills including Garfield "Bad Kitty" Lee and Mark "The Powerful Owl" Hulme were also revealed during the trial.

Mr Hulme sat alongside Mr Roden on the Benchmarks Committee of the Australian Financial Markets Association, the body responsible for guidelines around the setting of BBSW.

Jokes about market

Bloomberg chats between Commonwealth Bank's Mr Lee and Westpac's Mr Roden saw the two joke about the market which Mr Lee described as a casino. In another exchange read to the court, Mr Roden gave Mr Lee advice on how Commonwealth Bank should structure its operations. Mr Lee is no longer with the bank.

The regulator's delay in instigating proceedings against Australia's biggest bank may relate to the relatively small number of breaches the regulator has identified. NAB was alleged by the regulator to have committed 50 breaches, ANZ 44 breaches and Westpac 16 breaches.

NAB would ultimately admit to just 12 instances of attempted unconscionable conduct and ANZ just 10. Each bank paid a $10 million fine, $20 million of costs and a $20 million donation to a financial literacy fund. The settlements were approved by Justice Jaygot late in 2017 who lashed the banks for thier role in the scandal.