NZSA surprised at no retail reps on NZX review committee

NZSA surprised and disappointed at no retail reps on NZX review committee

By Jenny Ruth

March 5 (BusinessDesk) - The New Zealand Shareholders' Association says it is “surprising and disappointing” that none of the people appointed to the steering committee of the capital markets review represent retail investors.

Chair of the steering committee, Martin Stearne, a corporate consultant and former managing director of merchant bank FNZC, announced the appointment of nine other committee members on Monday.

“The selected members of the steering committee are all excellent choices” and representatives from broking houses with large retail client bases have been appointed to the committee, NZSA says in a statement.

“However, the motivation of commercial businesses is different to that which applies to the millions of retail investors and KiwiSavers who ultimately provide the funding for capital markets,” it says.

“NZSA has been invited to be on working groups, but a retail presence on the steering committee would undoubtedly have demonstrated that the project was taking a broader more holistic view of the issues facing NZX and capital markets in general.”

The review, announced by stock exchange operator NZX and the Financial Markets Authority in January, aims to try to revive equity listings which have fallen to 138 in December 2018 from 173 in December 2015. It is expected to deliver a 10-year vision and growth agenda for capital markets.

The new committee members are Rob Campbell, chair of SkyCity and Tourism Holdings, Rachel Dunne, a partner at law firm Chapman Tripp, Ross George, managing director of private equity firm Direct Capital, James Lee, chief executive of FNZC, Westpac chief executive David McLean, Forsyth Barr managing director Neil Paviour-Smith, Rebecca Thomas, chief executive of Mint Asset Management, New Zealand Superannuation Fund chief executive Matt Whineray and Geoff Zame, head of institutional equities at Craigs Investment Partners.

The review is supported by accounting firm EY, to head the review, with the results expected to be published in the September quarter of this year.

(BusinessDesk)

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