KEY POINTS:
Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel has announced new rules for the non-bank financial sector.
She said today they were the first phase in a package, were "relatively light-handed" and reflected feedback from industry.
Ms Dalziel said the main changes included:
* Regulation of financial advisers by a co-regulatory model involving Approved Professional Bodies with oversight by the Securities Commission;
* Implementing comprehensive consumer dispute resolution and redress mechanisms;
* Licensing trustees and retaining them as frontline supervisors while enhancing the approval and monitoring role of the Securities Commission; and
* Making the Reserve Bank the single prudential regulator for banks, non-bank deposit takers and insurers.
"The decisions aim to promote a sound and efficient financial sector in which the public has confidence in the professionalism and integrity of advisers, and targeted regulation that does not impose unnecessary costs and that will encourage innovative and competitive markets," Ms Dalziel said in a statement.
"The decisions will also ensure that New Zealand meets its international obligations, especially those arising from the Financial Advisory Task Force necessary to mitigate against money laundering and financing of terrorism."
- NZPA
