We heard concerns that the current requirements resulted in assurance reports that are complex and hard to read. We therefore consulted on changes to the Orders in Council that set banks’ disclosure requirements and the associated assurance requirements. The changes are designed to rationalise the structure of the assurance reports and hence improve their readability. We did not intend to change the scope, nature, or level of assurance, of the assurance engagements required for bank disclosure.
Changes finalised
On 14 December 2022 we published updated “working copies” of the principal Orders in Council, to reflect the finalised amendments. The amendments take effect on 31 December 2022, and publishing the working copies ahead of that date ensures they are available on a timely basis, particularly for banks that will be preparing disclosure statements for periods with a reporting date of 31 December 2022.
The revised working copies are available on our Disclosure Requirements webpage.
Update on timing
The two Amending Orders in Council needed to implement these changes were made on 5 September 2022 and published in the New Zealand Gazette on 8 September.
- Registered Bank Disclosure Statements (New Zealand Incorporated Registered Banks) Order 2014 Amendment Order 2022
- Registered Bank Disclosure Statements (Overseas Incorporated Registered Banks) Order 2014 Amendment Order 2022
The Amending Orders come into force on 31 December 2022, and the changes apply to disclosure statements with reporting dates from that date onwards.
Feedback on consultation
We published a feedback statement on 20 July 2022, summarising the submissions we received on the proposals, and the policy decisions taken in response to those submissions.
We planned to implement the changes to the bank disclosure requirements in time for disclosure statements with a reporting date of 30 September 2022 [now 31 December 2022 – see above]. We made recommendations to the Minister of Finance to get Amending Orders in Council made to achieve that. The text of the two Amending Orders following the consultation is here:
- Amending Order for assurance reports on disclosure statements: New Zealand-incorporated banks (PDF 434KB)
- Amending Order for assurance reports on disclosure statements: branches of overseas-incorporated banks (PDF 432KB)
We received the following 8 submissions on the matters raised in the consultation paper.
- ANZ Bank New Zealand Limited (PDF 643KB)
- Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (PDF 143KB)
- External Reporting Board (PDF 270KB)
- KPMG New Zealand (PDF 215KB)
- MUFG Bank, Ltd (PDF 133KB)
- New Zealand Bankers’ Association (PDF 121KB)
- Office of the Auditor-General (PDF 583KB)
- PricewaterhouseCoopers New Zealand (PDF 187KB)
Background to consultation – now completed
We proposed to make changes to the assurance reports that are required to accompany registered banks’ public disclosure statements.
The consultation paper set out the evolution of the assurance requirements that led us to this point, a summary of the problems, our proposals to address them, and some high-level questions on the costs and benefits of making the proposed changes.
We asked for feedback on our proposals from banks’ auditors, banks themselves, and any other interested parties.
To implement the changes, we need to recommend to the Minister of Finance that he advises the Governor General to make the necessary amending orders.
Requirements currently in force
The current versions of the assurance requirements can be seen in our “working copies” of the registered bank disclosure Orders in Council, available from the following page:
Need help or have questions
If you have any questions about the changes you can contact [email protected]