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Westpac Bank has been forced to review its financial data reporting system after the lender wrongly classified tens of billions of dollars worth of loans.
In a filing with the Australian Securities Exchange, Westpac said it had reclassified the allocation of loan purpose between owner-occupied and investment housing to better reflect the purpose of the loan.
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According to the ASX filing, Westpac had wrongly recorded $28.8 billion worth of loans as owner-occupied when these loans were, in fact, made for investment purposes.
Westpac investor relations Andrew Bowden said the changes would have "no impact" on the lender's "published financial statements and financial position".
While Westpac did not initially notice the error, it was discovered during an internal review and the bank promptly informed the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority about the mistake in classification.
"The review of regulatory reporting is ongoing," Mr Bowden said.
"Westpac may make additional changes to its data should it identify further opportunities for enhancement and alignment."
