The Prime Minister today provided a little more detail on the KiwiSaver changes which will be announced in next week’s budget.

Where a lender obtains judgment against a debtor the normal rule is that contractual rights merge in the judgment and from that time the right to contractual interest ends and the statutory rate of interest applies to the judgment amount.

Anyone carrying on insurance business in New Zealand will be under the Reserve Bank’s supervision and will need to be licensed and comply with a number of ongoing prudential requirements under the new Insurance (Prudential Supervision) Act.

The High Court of Australia recently found Westpac liable for defamation for dishonouring 30 cheques when there were sufficient funds to cover them. However, the Court divided 3-2 over whether the defence of qualified privilege applied, with the majority holding that it did not. This Brief Counsel analyses the Australian decision and its potential impact on New Zealand law.

Both the RBNZ and APRA propose to implement core Basel III measures regarding a replacement capital adequacy regime.

The Federal Court of Australia has found mostly for the banks in a class action about the legality of certain bank fees.

The importance of due diligence processes in significant capital raisings is a key take-out from a High Court decision.

The Reserve Bank has released a consultation document entitled Review of Disclosure Requirements for Registered Banks outlining options to change the disclosure requirements for registered banks. The Review asks questions, with submissions due by 24 September 2010. The results of the Review are to be published in November 2010, with the new disclosure regime expected to come into effect on 31 March 2011.

RBNZ has issued proposals in the wake of the Basel III reforms.

The recent spate of finance company failures has left many investors out-of-pocket and dented public confidence in investing in finance companies or other non-bank deposit takers.

Most financial services businesses will need to register by 1 December 2010 under the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act (FSPA). Specialist financial advisers, discretionary investment managers and investment planners have until 31 March 2011.