Next Steps In Review of Securities Laws
The Ministry of Economic Development has released the Cabinet Paper and Regulatory Impact Statement relating to the proposed reforms of New Zealand's securities laws.
There will be a short period of discussion/consultation of the policy encapsulated in the Cabinet Paper before an expoure draft is released in August for an intensive four week consultation period. This will be followed in October with the introduction of a Bill to the House with the Bill expected to eb refered to the Select Copmmittee in February for hoipefully a full six month submission phase, this is intended to result in the enacted of new securities laws by the end of 2012. Hon. Simon Power, Minister of Commerce has invested a lot of his and hios officals time in the review of securties laws and wishes to see this process progress in a meaningful way towards a proper and timely conclusion.
In releasing the Cabinet Paper and Impact Statement MED said the following:
"Financial sector reform in recent years has included, amongst other things, the prudential regulation of non-bank deposit takers and insurance companies, and the licensing of key financial sector participants such as financial advisers, trustees and auditors.
This Cabinet paper complements the work in this area and proposes substantial changes to:
• The definition of security and the exemptions from the securities law regime
• Disclosure requirements for issuers
• The governance of collective investment schemes
• A range of other matters, including the liability regime for breaches of securities law and the public enforcement of directors’ duties.
Securities law background
Securities law governs how financial products are created, promoted and sold, and the ongoing responsibilities of those who offer, deal and trade them. Securities law aims to facilitate the development of an efficient capital market by encouraging the development of confident and informed investors, and assisting businesses to access capital"
The INFINZ Securities Law Working Group will meet to discuss the Cabinet paper ahead of the consultation meetings over the next two weeks or so and then move to an intensive consideration of the Exposure draft.
The Cabinet Paper can be found here
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