Australia's securities regulator filed its second case in a month against Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., this time over undisbursed benefits to over half a million customers.

The Australian Securities & Investments Commission, or ASIC, alleges in the case filed with the Federal Court that the lender failed to provide fee waivers and interest rate discounts, among other benefits, to 580,447 offset transaction accounts or "breakfree" package holders between the mid-1990s and September.

ANZ pleaded guilty to breaching its obligations as a financial services and credit licensee provider. The bank admitted it misled customers and made them believe it had sufficient systems and processes for the provision of account benefits, ASIC noted in a Dec. 9 news release.

So far, ANZ has remediated nearly A$200 million to the affected customers. In light of the latest lawsuit, the bank and the regulator will propose a A$25 million monetary penalty for the violations.

The lawsuit stems from a case study into the bank during the 2018 Royal Commission into Misconduct in the Banking Superannuation and Financial Services Industry. On Nov. 26, ASIC commenced separate legal proceedings against ANZ over violations of Australia's National Consumer Credit Protection Act.