The financial system at a glance
All of us rely on the successful day-to-day functioning of New Zealand’s financial system.
This graphic shows which institutions, markets and infrastructures make up the financial system, and how they interact. At the heart of this financial system are New Zealanders, working and running businesses, spending, saving and investing.
The financial system includes all of the main institutions and markets you hear about everyday – like the banks, finance companies, securities markets and insurance companies. It also includes ‘invisible’ market infrastructures such as the payment and settlement systems which ensure the millions of electronic financial transactions that occur each day are successfully delivered.
The Reserve Bank regulates the financial system for soundness and efficiency – and we regulate those institutions shown under the magnifying glass. The other institutions are regulated elsewhere – the Financial Markets Authority, for instance, regulates KiwiSaver providers and financial market intermediaries.
The financial system provides a robust framework for all of us to carry out economic transactions and to channel savings into investment, and so helps to support economic growth.
Key resources
- Financial institutions we regulate and supervise
- FAQs on how we regulate the banks
- Financial system liquidity fact sheet (PDF 50KB)
- The Reserve Bank's efforts to maintain financial system stability
- The Financial Stability Report, which the Reserve Bank publishes twice a year
- Regulation and the Financial System (June 2013), a speech given by Reserve Bank Head of Prudential Supervision Toby Fiennes, and accompanying news release, focuses on our post-Global Financial Crisis approach to financial system regulation to keep it sound and efficient
