That includes the National Party's plan to scrap the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Act (CoFI), which is set to kick in from March 31, 2025, if it wins government next month.
“The FSC is really interested in good policy outcomes that are beneficial to New Zealanders,” chief executive Richard Klipin says.
“In this campaign, all parties are coming to the table with policies that will impact the future of New Zealand, particularly with financial services plans,” Klipin says.
“We understand there's a concrete debate and contest of ideas going on.”
The FSC and the sector “have worked hard over years to get ready for” both licensing, which came into force earlier this year, and Cofi.
It introduces a new regulatory regime to ensure registered banks, licensed insurers and licensed non-bank deposit takers comply with the fair conduct principle when providing relevant services to consumers.
“The intention is to do the right thing by consumers and Cofi is the policy process around addressing that,” Klipin says.
“It's also the law of the land at the moment and we will continue to work with regulators and agencies as the law currently stands. Clearly, there's an election campaign going on and the FSC is apolitical. We will be keen to work with whatever government is formed,” he says.
“But until we know what the next government looks like, the FSC is watching with great interest. We will look to work positively with whoever forms the government and whatever policies they come to the table with.”
The FSC is “holding our council” and will not respond to every idea that gets into the public domain, Klipin says.
National's commerce and consumers affairs spokesman Andrew Bayly has argued that there is aleady sufficient legislation governing conduct and that the country doesn't need another overlay of legislation.
