Australia’s ANZ, one of the country’s “big four” banks, has agreed to pay a record fine of $240 million Australian dollars ($159.5 million) over “widespread misconduct”, the financial regulator said Monday.

The fine is the largest ever announced by the regulator against a single entity, the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) said.

ANZ was fined for “acting unconscionably” while managing a $14-billion bond deal with the Australian government.

It was also penalized for “failing to respond to hundreds of customer hardship notices”, making false or misleading statements about its savings interest rates and failing to refund fees charged to dead customers.

“Time and time again ANZ betrayed the trust of Australians,” Joe Longo, chair of the ASIC, said.

“Banks must have

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