Is FMA CEO quitting because of RAM?

Is FMA CEO quitting because of RAM?

We must wonder if Mr Hughes is in fact a casualty of the Ross Asset Management (RAM) debacle.

The FMA under Mr Hughes has failed to build confidence in the NZ financial markets, or the FMA itself. The failure of the authorities to act on written warnings about RAM three years ago, and the licencing of Mr Ross by the FMA as an Authorised Financial Adviser without adequate due diligence, speak for themselves. The FMA has failed to have proper law in place to unwind Ponzi schemes and protect the property rights of investors, despite Ponzi schemes being embarrassingly common in New Zealand.

Mr Hughes repeated attacks on RAM investors implying it was their fault have not been appreciated. The FMA had the regulatory power to do proper due diligence on RAM, the investors did not.

Mr Hughes may have fallen on his sword. It remains incumbent on the FMA and the government to provide investors with a fair and just resolution of the RAM disaster.

ENDS

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