Stakeholders’ satisfaction with FMA takes a tumble

Stakeholders’ opinions of how easy it is to deal with the Financial Markets Authority have deteriorated in the past 12 months, according to the regulator’s latest survey.

Saturday, October 26th 2024, 5:53AM

by Kim Savage

Fewer than half of respondents - 49% - in the FMA’s Ease of Doing Business Survey rated their recent interactions with the regulator as “Very Good” or “Excellent” compared to 64% in 2023.

Other survey metrics painted a similar picture of stakeholders’ falling perceptions of the FMA, with 11% fewer stakeholders rating service levels as good or excellent and 10% fewer stakeholders giving top marks to the regulator for quality of engagement.

Stakeholders’ level of comfort raising issues with the regulator remained steady, with two-thirds offering a 4 out of 5 rating. Not surprisingly the majority of those who were uncomfortable also reported dissatisfaction in their dealings with the FMA.

Wake-up call for the FMA

A spokesperson for the FMA told Good Returns it was working on improving its communication with the financial services sector, in an effort to bring its scores back to levels seen in previous years.

“The FMA will also be working to ensure the response rate of its ‘Ease of Doing Business Survey’ is improved from the current 19%, and to ensure it is reflective of all the sectors we regulate.”

The spokesperson said the regulator would work closely with the sector to understand how it could improve.

“The FMA carried out a series of roadshows across New Zealand attended by hundreds of financial advisers.”

“We’ve recently held roundtables with sector industry leaders and spoken at numerous conferences. We are committed to this level of engagement,” said the spokesperson.

Changes to the main reasons for stakeholders interacting with the FMA were noted in the survey, with licensing no longer topping the list, replaced by data collection and policy consultation.

As to whether the FMA is doing its job effectively, the regulator achieved an 85% rating for its work supporting market integrity, although it declined from 92% in 2023.

Tags: FMA