NZX Welcomes Changes To Prospective Financial Information

New Zealand’s public market operator NZX today welcomed news that prospective financial information for initial public offers in disclosure documents is to be made optional.

The changes to regulations – Financial Markets Conduct Amendment Regulations 2025 – have been published on the Parliamentary Counsel Office website. They come into force on 12 June 2025.

“One of the most difficult and expensive requirements for a company when listing on the NZX, is mandatory prospective financial information or PFI,” NZX Chief Executive Mark Peterson says.

“NZX understands the cost of providing PFI ranges from around $150,000 to $500,000 and is a major factor that causes New Zealand advisers to recommend companies list elsewhere where PFI isn’t mandatory.

“NZX and other New Zealand market participants have been engaging the Government on ways to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of New Zealand’s capital markets. Creating flexibility on how the future performance of a business can be portrayed in disclosure documents, is one of the initiatives we have been seeking.

“NZX applauds Commerce Minister Scott Simpson and the Government for making this requirement optional as it will provide investors more choice of investable product and enable better access to capital for New Zealand businesses. The change removes unnecessary red tape and will assist in New Zealand’s capital markets being more competitive with international peers.”

Mr Peterson says NZX, and representatives of New Zealand’s capital markets sector, continue to engage with the Government on removing further regulatory roadblocks that are hindering investment and access to capital for New Zealand companies and projects. This includes changes to director-liability settings, right-sizing mandatory climate-related disclosures, specific changes to disclosure documents, and NZX exploring possible tax reforms that would encourage greater investment.

“As a package, these reforms will materially improve the viability for companies wanting to meet their growth aspirations via the listed market,” Mr Peterson says.

Mr Peterson acknowledged the positive leadership former Commerce Minister Andrew Bayly had played in leading the capital market reforms.

The Government’s PFI announcement and the acknowledgment of further reform underway, align with initiatives recommended in the Growing New Zealand’s Capital Markets 2029 report released in 2019. That review had 42 recommendations from 210 New Zealand industry participants covering KiwiSaver, regulation, public sector assets and infrastructure, promotion of public markets, tax, new products, and technology. All were designed to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of New Zealand’s capital markets.

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