She reveals how the regulator intends to tread the markets
At the recent Institute of Financial Professionals New Zealand (INFINZ) Conference 2024, Financial Markets Authority (FMA) chief executive Samantha Barrass spoke about how the country’s capital markets are faring.
In her speech at the conference, Barrass (pictured) noted the current discussion regarding future regulations for the capital markets in the country among the government, the industry, and the regulators. She said that the FMA was approaching it through being open with its stakeholders.
“The FMA had provided the minister with a list of rules and regulations which we feel are not needed, are a regulatory burden on firms, and sometimes aren’t a good use of our resources, such as renewing exemptions every five years,” said Barrass.
“This is an important part of our job – to keep the laws around financial markets under review. It is something we have been doing for a long-time and will continue to do so into the future.”
Barrass also noted the need for fundamental investor protections to continue and be enhanced as these were set following the global financial crisis and the fall of finance companies in the country.
“Towards the end of next month, we’ll be publishing a monitoring report setting out what we’ve seen, both good and bad, to assist the sector. We’ll be following this report up with some industry webinars and roundtables, as part of our engagement-led approach to take feedback and discuss the findings,” said Barrass.
The regulator has also been engaging with the fintech community about how to ensure safe growth for the sector.
“Most regulators overseas have looked at ways to encourage this sector, and we are talking to those regulators to understand what might work, and what doesn’t for New Zealand. Domestically, we are meeting with Government and FinTech firms and working with the industry to best understand the hurdles and opportunities so we can get a practical understanding of what can be done here and the part we can play,” said Barrass.
“The FMA is committed to tackling regulation where it is unnecessary, but also steadfast in its commitment to ensure appropriate and effective protections are in place for the mum and dad investors who were so severely burnt during the collapse of the finance companies. Getting this balance right is key, and I am certain we will get there.”
