Feedback shows room for improvement

Shareholders Association chairman John Hawkins. Photo / APN

Market commentators say the FMA's performance for the first year has been good but there are some areas in which it could be doing better.

Shareholders Association chairman John Hawkins says the FMA has done well to engage with all sectors of the market.

"The view we hear most often is that they are doing a pretty good job."

Hawkins said the FMA appeared willing to take on the hard cases to ensure compliance and establish a depth of case law around governance and regulation.

"This is dramatically different to its predecessor and has clearly had the effect of improving corporate governance and compliance."

Hawkins said his only real area of concern was education.

"We expected the FMA to play a leadership role in this area, but to date there has been little progress.

"In the NZSA's view, financial education is a key component in promoting confident and informed participation in the financial markets."

Chapman Tripp partner Roger Wallis said the FMA had made positive moves, including a stronger presence in Auckland and more staff from the corporate sector.

He said the biggest challenge for them had been around managing expectations, particularly in the finance company court cases.

The majority of cases concluded so far have been criminal, resulting in little compensation for investors.

Wallis believes more of the cases should have been civil.

"If they had had their time again the FMA might have done it differently. But they would say the reality was they inherited that decision."

Wallis hopes to see more evidence of the strategic intelligent unit in action.

"That is one area that has been underweight. I would like to think in the second year that unit will do something."

Wallis admits there is a lot on the plate of the FMA with new licensing but says it would be good to get a clearer steer on what its priorities are for the year.