The Reserve Bank and Financial Markets Authority (FMA) have confirmed they will conduct on-site visits to the life companies and banks, as part of the ongoing conduct and culture review.
In the announcement made last Friday, also the due date for the insurers to send their submissions, the regulators stated the review is progressing rapidly.
“A combined FMA/RBNZ team are working through the submissions received from banks in response to our inquiries,” said Reserve Bank Governor, Adrian Orr.
“This is a significant task, but necessary to create a fact-based, fair, platform.”
Orr confirmed the team have begun to notify banks of when and why the regulators will visit them, with the main reason being to assess the validity of their written submissions.
“It was always our intention to do so, with targeted visits more effective than a simple download of the data and open-ended questioning,” he said.
Orr added it was too early to draw any broad conclusions.
“There are many areas where further evidence is needed, as well as proof of intent where gaps have been identified and are being closed,” Orr explained.