Submissions called for on the Financial Markets Conduct Bill

Glenn Joblin, Partner | Thursday 8 March 2012

The Financial Markets Conduct Bill (FMC Bill) has been referred to the Commerce Select Committee.

Submissions are due by 26 April 2012.

The Ministry of Economic Development's last consultation process on the exposure draft of the FMC Bill was focused on the technical details of the FMC Bill. In contrast, the select committee review of the Bill will also involve matters of policy. One area that has been signalled by the Ministry as a likely focus for the select committee concerns the significant movement from criminal liability to civil liability in the Bill and the change in focus for primary liability for disclosure failings from the directors to the issuer.

Background material for your submissions

The Ministry has collated a table of the submissions it received last year on the exposure draft of the FMC Bill. This table is available on the MED's website here. The table includes brief MED comments indicating where a change to the exposure draft has or has not been made in response to the submissions or where further consideration is required.

The Ministry has also released an unofficial compare version of the FMC Bill which shows changes between the exposure draft and the introduction version.

Read together, these documents show the changes made to the exposure draft of the FMC Bill in response to submissions and all other changes that have been made.

For further background material released by the MED on the FMC Bill and its review of New Zealand's securities legislation click here.

Do you need assistance with your submissions?

Bell Gully will be making submissions on the FMC Bill and we will provide further updates as we consider the FMC Bill in detail. In the meantime, if you have any questions or would like assistance with making a submission of your own, please contact your usual Bell Gully adviser.