The Data: Coverage, Periodicity, and Timeliness

Coverage characteristics

The income and balance sheet data presented in the table are calculated by aggregating the consolidated information for registered banks and their banking groups. Data for registered banks that are subsidiaries of other registered banks will be included in the consolidated figures of the parent and are therefore excluded from the aggregations.
Data are on a gross basis. Where a registered bank has applied a right of set off the Reserve Bank has used the gross amount in calculating the data in the table.
Capital adequacy data only applies to New Zealand-incorporated banks only.
Data are in millions of New Zealand dollars.
Registered banks have different annual balance dates. Income data are derived from quarterly disclosure statements to cover the twelve months to 31 December. Balance sheet and capital adequacy data are as at 31 December.
The number of registered banks has varied over time. The table shows the number as at 31 December each year. A history of bank registrations is available elsewhere on our website.
For data series descriptions see: Income statement, Balance sheet and Capital adequacy.

Periodicity

Annual

Timeliness

Released late April.

Access by the public

Advance release calendar

The "Advance Release Calendar" is updated and released each Friday on the website. This is a long-term plan of scheduled releases.

Integrity

Dissemination of terms and conditions under which official statistics are produced, including confidentiality of individual responses

Since 1996, data have been sourced from publicly available General Disclosure Statements of registered banks. The March 1996 Bulletin article New disclosure regime for registered banks explains why General Disclosure Statements are now used.
Data for the pre-1996 period is derived from information that registered banks were required to send to the Reserve Bank under section 93 of the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act. The individual bank data supplied under section 93 is protected by section 105 of the Act.

Provision of information about revisions and advance notice of major changes in methodology

Provisional data are italicised. Data are deemed provisional when a series is under review. New data, or revised data, are in bold font. Revisions are generally published when a table is next due to be updated and released. Should revisions need to be made more promptly, a note is posted on the Internet website under "Revisions to Tables". Any major changes in methodology are posted on the website as a note.

Quality

Dissemination of documentation on methodology and sources used in preparing statistics

A list of the registered banks can be found on the Bank's website. The information required in the disclosure statements can be found in the Orders in Council made under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act.
Information supplied by registered banks is required to meet Generally Accepted Accounting Standards. Changes to accounting standards and to the way banks conduct their business have impacted over time on the amounts shown for each series. The specific accounting policies of each registered bank are available in the statement of accounting policies included in General Disclosure Statements every six months.

Dissemination of registered bank statistics that support statistical cross-check and provide assurance of reasonableness

In most cases the latest General Disclosure Statements can be found on the websites of registered banks.
The Reserve Bank is the prudential regulator of registered banks and monitors their compliance with statutory requirements.
The compilation of the registered bank aggregate SSR table offers additional checks for reasonableness.