New Zealand Asks Banks Whether Tainted by Australian Misconduct

ANZ Bank signage is pictured on Auckland's Queen Street on Sept. 26, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. ANZ National, is expected to announce later today it will scrap the National brand and unions are looking for clarification on whether re-branding the bank will lead to job losses. Phil Walter/Getty Images

WELLINGTON–New Zealand financial authorities have met with the country’s biggest banks seeking assurances they are not engaged in the sort of misconduct exposed at their Australian parent banks by a powerful judicial inquiry.

The Royal Commission, as the Australian inquiry is called, has been a publicity disaster for Australia’s major lenders, all of which own New Zealand banks, turning out revelations of widespread corporate malfeasance since it began in February.