ANZ’s CEO, Nuno Matos, acknowledged the challenging decision to eliminate 3,500 positions as part of a company-wide restructuring, noting that this included the dismissal of half of the senior executive leadership team.

The organization faces additional scrutiny over allegations of mistreating thousands of customers, including those who are deceased, as well as accusations of misleading the federal government.

During a session with the House Economics Committee in Canberra, which is currently reviewing the “big four” banks, Matos was questioned about the fairness of the job cuts affecting thousands, while executives only faced a loss of bonuses amid the ongoing scandals.

Matos expressed regret for the company’s shortcomings and emphasized that the senior executive team experienced “one of the most severe demonstrations of accountability” he has witnessed in his career, with four out of nine members no longer with ANZ.

“Their departure was necessary as we believed that new leadership was essential to address the remediation efforts and guide the company on its new path,” he stated.

“I need to say the obvious: letting go of approximately 3500 people and impacting them and their families is not something I am proud, is not something I would like to do, not something a human being likes to do,” he said.

“It is very, very tough.”

ANZ announced in September that 3500 full-time roles and 1000 contractor jobs would be cut to eliminate duplication, work that did not support priorities and sharpen focus in what it described as a “rapidly evolving and highly competitive banking environment”.

The bank said there would be a “limited impact” on customer-facing frontline roles, with the majority to be focused at the headquarters in Melbourne.

The cuts are estimated to cost the bank $585 million, contributing to a $1.1 billion hit to the bottom line in its half-year updates.

The historic $240 million fine the bank was handed came after ASIC found it had acted “unconscionably” in dealing with the Australian government while managing a $14 billion bond deal, and incorrectly reporting its bond trading data to the government by overstating the volumes by tens of billions of dollars over almost two years.

The fine has yet to be approved by the federal court.

Matos insisted that the redundancies would help the bank work in a simpler manner, creating an expanded frontline and shrunken headquarters.

He added that he wanted to maintain a “constructive relationship” with the Finance Sector Union, which had been critical of the bank’s leadership.

“While the bank congratulates itself for raking in $5.7 billion, thousands of its employees are living with anxiety, burnout and dread,” Finance Sector Union national president Wendy Streets said last week.

“We’re hearing from people who can’t sleep, who’ve developed panic attacks, and who dread going to work.

“ANZ’s profits are up, but so is the human cost. The bank has a culture of uncertainty so severe it’s making people sick.”