Diplock heralds single Australasian advisory market

Jane Diplock, head of the Securities Commission, has called for the trans-Tasman harmonisation of financial adviser regulations between New Zealand and Australia.

Tuesday, May 5th 2009, 6:51AM

by David Chaplin

Diplock said, in a speech last week, that the mutual recognition of securites offerings (MRSO) agreement signed between New Zealand and Australia last year prefaced even greater co-operation between the two country's financial regulators.

"The mutual recognition of securities offerings underpins the strength of each country's regulatory regime and the co-operative relationship between the two nations," Diplock said. "But it doesn't end there. I believe that we should extend the concept of mutual recognition across the whole panoply of trans-Tasman financial services. An example of this would be in the regulation of financial advisers... We should follow this with mutual recognition of other financial services."

She said the similarity of regulatory regimes in Australia and New Zealand provided an "opportunity for trans-Tasman cooperation and enforcement".

In her speech Diplock said the Securities Commission is already working closely with its trans-Tasman counterpart, the Australian Securities and Investment Commission (ASIC) to establish homogenous capital markets rules "in the interests of a single economic market".

"The commissions hold two joint meetings annually and at the meeting in March decided that the focus of work for the next three years would include, amongst other things, an operational review of the MRSO and the establishment of a joint agency group towards the development of a regulatory framework for mutual recognition of advisers," she said.

"In fact, one of the strategic issues the Minister of Commerce Hon Simon Power has asked the Commission to turn its mind to, is building on the work of the trans-Tasman MRSO."

Diplock also told the audience that the current financial crisis had highlighted the need for greater co-operation between regulatory authorities at an international level which would result in a set of rules that "are definitely going to be significantly different from those of last century".

"It is my belief that a series of networked solutions will be developed and these solutions will require the cooperation of all major players in the global financial architecture as well as commitment at national jurisdictional level," she said.

« News round-up

Sovereign takes regulation bull by the horns »

Special Offers