Securities Commission of New Zealand

Last updated

Securities Commission
Seccom-nz-logo.gif
Agency overview
Formed1978
Dissolved30 April 2011
Superseding agency
Headquarters Wellington, New Zealand
Employees51 [1]
Agency executive
  • Jane Diplock, Chairman (2001–2011)
Key documents
Website http://www.sec-com.govt.nz/
Footnotes
The Financial Markets Authority no longer officially recognises this predecessor organisation.

The Securities Commission was an independent Crown entity of the government of New Zealand and the main regulator of investments. It was replaced on 1 May 2011 by the Financial Markets Authority.

Contents

It was responsible for enforcement, monitoring and market oversight of the securities markets, authorising participants and promoting public understanding of investments. This included authorising the New Zealand Stock Exchange with which it ran a co-regulatory model.

On 27 April 2010, the New Zealand minister for commerce Simon Power announced that the Securities Commission would be replaced by a new integrated financial regulator, the Financial Markets Authority. [2]

History

The commission was first established under the Securities Act 1978 which determines its powers and functions.

The commissions role was modified and extended by a number of additional pieces of legislation. These include the Securities Markets Act 1988, the Investment Advisers (Disclosure) Act 1996, the Securities Regulations 1983, the Securities Act (Contributory Mortgage) Regulations 1988, and the Securities (Fees) Regulations 1998.

The Financial Advisers Act 2008 gave the Securities Commission new responsibilities to register and set minimum standards for financial advisers. There was some concern that the commission did not have the resources to effectively carry out its responsibilities [3] and that this additional responsibility would make the situation worse.

The agency was chaired by Jane Diplock from 2001 until it was disbanded in 2011 and faced criticism for its handling of the collapse of a large number of finance companies. [4] Jane Diplock was also the chairperson of the International Organization of Securities Commissions (IOSCO) during her time as chairperson of the Securities Commission.

Responsibilities and functions

The Securities Commission undertook the following roles:

Notable cases

In the second matter the Securities Commission reported that Feltex had overstated the length of tenure of most of its extensive bank debt in its half-yearly report to 31 December 2005. The Ministry of Economic Development took legal action against five of the Feltex directors as a result of this Securities Commission report but in MED v Feeney Judge M Doogue dismissed the charges. [11] Judge Doogue specialised in family court matters. Less than a year after this judgement she was promoted to Chief District Court Judge. [12]

See also

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References

  1. 2009 Annual Report – Recruiting and retaining staff
  2. Bennett, Adam (29 April 2010). "One financial regulator to rule them all". The New Zealand Herald.
  3. Securities Commission needs staff, money and IT
  4. "Diplock defends commission over fin coy failures". Good Returns. 9 September 2009.
  5. "Report of an Enquiry into Certain Arrangements entered into by Bank of New Zealand in March 1988" (PDF). New Zealand Securities Commission. 24 May 1993.
  6. "Fay Richwhite money a hard sell". Fairfax NZ News. 24 April 2009.
  7. "Former Tranz Rail shareholders face insider trading charges". The New Zealand Herald. 5 June 2011.
  8. "Feltex Carpets Ltd IPO Prospectus Financial Reporting and Continuous Disclosure". Justaccounting. NZ Securities Commission. 11 November 2007.
  9. "Feltex Carpets Prospectus" (PDF). Feltex Carpets Ltd. April 2004. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  10. "Houghton v Saunders" (PDF). Chapman Tripp. High Court.
  11. "Directors Backsides Exposed" (PDF). Chapman Tripp. Retrieved 29 April 2016.
  12. "Chief District Court Judge". Justice Department.
  13. Power, Simon (20 June 2010). "Aorangi Securities, charitable trusts, and Hubbards placed into statutory management". New Zealand Government. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  14. BusinessDesk (20 June 2010). "SFO to investigate Hubbards". The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved 21 October 2010.{{cite news}}: |author= has generic name (help)
  15. Hutching, Chris (31 August 2010). "Some big winners from South Canterbury collapse". The National Business Review. Retrieved 11 April 2012.
  16. NZPA (15 December 2010). "Hotchin assets frozen by High Court". The New Zealand Herald. ISSN   1170-0777 . Retrieved 21 December 2010.