This article describes the IMF’s Financial Sector Assessment Programme (FSAP) for New Zealand that will be undertaken during 2016. An FSAP is a comprehensive review of a country’s financial system, with a particular focus on the quality of financial sector regulation. The 2016 FSAP will examine how New Zealand’s financial institutions are prudentially regulated and supervised by the Reserve Bank, and how New Zealand’s capital markets and financial market conduct are regulated by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).
The IMF’s assessment will take place across two visits to New Zealand in late August and November. The visits will involve significant engagement with New Zealand authorities, as well as discussions with a wider set of stakeholders including financial sector entities that are subject to regulation and industry groups. The findings and recommendations from the FSAP will be published by the IMF in early 2017. New Zealand authorities will consider the results of the FSAP in the context of both international regulatory norms and local New Zealand conditions.