15 Sept 2020 – NZX provided an update on various Listing Rules class waivers granted in March 2020 in relation to Covid-19.

15 Sept 2020 - Minister for Climate Change, James Shaw, announced New Zealand will be the first country in the world to require the financial sector to report on climate risks. The new regime will be on a comply-or-explain basis, based on the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) framework. Businesses covered by the requirements will have to make annual disclosures, covering governance arrangements, risk management and strategies for mitigating any climate change impacts. If businesses are unable to disclose, they must explain why. If approved by Parliament, financial entities could be required to make disclosures in 2023 at the earliest. The new climate reporting requirements will apply to:

• All registered banks, credit unions, and building societies with total assets of more than $1 billion
• All managers of registered investment schemes with greater than $1 billion in total assets under management
• All licensed insurers with greater than $1 billion in total assets under management or annual premium income greater than $250 million
• All equity and debt issuers listed on the NZX
• Crown financial institutions with greater than $1 billion in total assets under management, such as ACC and the NZ Super Fund

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/new-zealand-first-world-require-climate-risk-reporting

After the NZX cyber-attacks, financial service businesses are being warned by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC). The high cyber security advisory that was issued addresses the current threat and details how attacks could happen. The NCSC has said that businesses should review current plans and systems in place.

“A high cyber security advisory has been issued by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), warning financial services businesses about the current threat and outlining how the attacks could occur.

Affected entities have received ransom emails demanding payment in Bitcoin, along with a threat of a significant distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack against internet-exposed infrastructure if the ransom is not paid.

The NCSC said financial services firms should review their plans for responding to a DDoS attack to ensure they were up to date, and review their systems architecture to identify any potential points of failure. ”

Katrina Shanks has said that advisers need to avoid being complacent and instead need to know the strength of their current cyber security processes. She continued by saying that cyber-attacks affect consumer confidence and that there are many options for those looking to improve their cyber security.

“Financial Advice NZ chief executive Katrina Shanks said advisers would need to understand how up to date their cyber security processes were and what protections they had in place. And should avoid “being complacent”.

She said there were a lot of options available to businesses that wanted to improve their cyber security. “You do get what you pay for.”

She said there was a risk to consumer confidence when high-profile financial services firms such as the NZX, were repeatedly felled by the attacks.” Click here to read more

In other news

Level five isn't the big issue for advisers; It's something else

FMA: FMA releases new investor guide to bonds

Deloitte: Tricky to compare NZ insurance to other markets - report prepared for Partners Life

25 Aug 2020 – NZX decided to halt trading early as it “experienced a volumetric DDoS (distributed denial of service) attack from offshore, which impacted NZX system connectivity.”

26 Aug 2020 - ANZ Investment Services (New Zealand) Ltd announced it will stop accepting new investment into the Bonus Bonds Scheme and, following two further prize draws, will wind up the scheme over the next year.

https://news.anz.com/new-zealand/posts/2020/08/bonus-bonds-announcement

26 Aug 2020 – RBNZ advised that the Ministry of Health granted an exemption to enable registered banks and licensed non-bank deposit takers to carry out critical financial services at Alert Level 3.

https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/news/2020/08/banks-and-nbdts-under-covid19-alert-level-3-august-2020

26 Aug 2020 – Stats NZ reported that incomes fell for the first time since records started in 1998.

https://www.stats.govt.nz/news/incomes-fall-for-first-time-on-record

Stories From the Marketplace by Michael Larsen explores the history of at New Zealand’s Capital Market. The book focuses on the events that occurred within the past 30 years although it is initiated by the NZX to mark their 150th anniversary.

The book will include interviews with notable New Zealanders and industry figures. The book is available for pre-order and will be available in October. Over 100 individuals spoke about their experiences and gave their opinions on the events that have impacted the market during the past 30 years. 

Michael is an incredible talent,  with numerous works to his name. As he is a friend and neighbour here in the office I got to hear some of the stories and learn a bit about the process of putting this together - which has been a huge job. Congratulations to Michael and the NZX for the initiative.