I want to talk today about an important initiative at the Reserve Bank– to undertake a stocktake of our regulatory framework for banks and non-bank deposit takers. There has been a considerable amount of financial sector regulation in recent years, both globally and locally in New Zealand.
In large part this has been a response to the major financial and economic costs of the global financial crisis. While the New Zealand banking system fared relatively well in the GFC, the unprecedented severity and scope of the financial shocks made it clear that the prudential regulatory regime needed to be strengthened, and that this should be coordinated on a global front.