Roger Beaumont: NZ Banking Association CEO on the changes to the CCCFA and lending legislation

The new lending legislation seems like it will be a net positive for the banks.

As part of the CCCFA reforms the Financial Markets Authority is set to become a one-stop regulatory shop, looking after licences to ensure consumers are taken care of. 

Banking Association CEO Roger Beaumont told Mike Hosking that while there will likely be minimal impact for customers, there will be definite improvements on the bank’s side. 

He said that one of the key changes is that the “draconian” personal liability legislation for managers and banks will be removed. 

Beaumont says the devil is in the detail, of which there hasn’t been much yet, but anything that simplifies and clarifies monitoring in the sector is a good thing. 

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:00):
I got more change coming on the lending money, the
banking side of the equation. This is all part of
the overall Triple CFA reforms, of course, started famously all
those years ago by David Clark and completely cocked up
and changed over and over. Anyway, the Financial Market's Authority
is set to become a one stop regulatory shop. They
will look after licenses to ensure consumers have looked after
as well. Banking Association head Roger Beaumont's with us on this. Roger,

(00:20):
very good morning to you.

Speaker 2 (00:21):
Oh good morning, Mike, thanks for having me.

Speaker 1 (00:23):
Not at all. This strikes me as sort of back
room stuff that the average punt are looking for a
mortgage wouldn't necessarily know or care about. Is that fair
or not?

Speaker 2 (00:31):
Oh? Yes, I think there will be minimal impacts of
frontline customers on this, But I mean this is part
of a further series of changes that the Minister has
been making to the Triple CFA, which, as we've talked
about numerous times, has been a source of pain and
difficulty for both banks and customers trying to get lending.

Speaker 1 (00:50):
Okay, so does it improve things at your side of
the equation?

Speaker 2 (00:55):
Yeah, well, I think one of the ready key changes
the Minister and now for last night is that the
personal liability for managers and banks will be ditched. And
what that means is that managers were potentially subject to
a two hundred thousand dollars fine if they breached the code.

(01:15):
And just to give you an example of how draconian
this has been, either the bank or the manager themselves
personally was prevented from taking out insurance to protect them
from that fine. So it was a really strict regime
that I think had some unintended consequences on lending approaches.

Speaker 1 (01:35):
Is the FMA generally up to running all of us?

Speaker 2 (01:37):
Now? Well, we support the twin peaks model that Minister
Bailey has introduced, which means basically you've got two key
regulators in the financial services sector, one being the Reserved
Bank on financial or crudential matters and the FMA on
conduct matters. And anything that simplifies and clarifies what that
monitoring process is is a good thing.

Speaker 1 (02:00):
Have we got there? At last? If you go back
to David Clarkin's various massinations and ideas and thought bubbles
and to where we are now, is this it?

Speaker 2 (02:08):
Well, look, there's a lot of detail that we haven't
seen it, so we need to work that through. And
once again, the devil is always in the detail. But
the Ministrani announced this at a function last night, so
we need to get our heads around what the detail
is and then we'll be able to comment more fully
on that question.

Speaker 1 (02:25):
Appreciate time. Roger Beaumont out of the Bankers Association.

Speaker 2 (02:29):
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