Hon Dr Michael Cullen Minister of Finance

Hon Margaret Wilson Minister of Commerce

24 September 2004

Trans-Tasman banking integration progress

Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Commerce Minister Margaret Wilson announced today that officials are undertaking work on the regulation of major financial institutions.

This work will determine whether different regulatory or institutional arrangements, including a joint trans-Tasman approach to regulation, could further growth and economic development in New Zealand.

“Once all this work is complete we can then make a decision on whether further integration with Australia would improve New Zealand’s economic growth and performance,” Dr Cullen said.

Officials from the Treasury, Reserve Bank of New Zealand and Ministry of Economic Development will undertake the work, which follows earlier discussions with Australian authorities on banking regulation.

While the key focus of the review is banking, officials will also consider the merits of including insurance under a similar regulatory approach, but will not repeat Law Commission work on life insurance.

The work will be reported back to the Finance Minister early next year.

Following on from the trans-Tasman discussions earlier in the year, the Reserve Bank is also working towards better information sharing and co-ordination with its Australian counterparts. A key result of this will be an improvement in the Bank’s crisis management capabilities. For more information about ths review please see: www.treasury.govt.nz or www.med.govt.nz or www.rbnz.govt.nz

ENDS

© Scoop Media