After its admission that it breached responsible lending laws Westpac should now be preparing for possible civil action by its customers, funders and investors, a plaintiff lawyer told the ABC. Westpac reached a $35 million settlement following an APRA targeted review which exposed that eight out of the bank's ten core lending controls were ineffectively operated (and in many cases poorly designed). Josh Mennan, a principal at Maurice Blackburn, said no-one who had been following the details, exposed as a result of the Hayne royal commission, "could seriously rule out the possibility of a class action being brought."