The Ministry for Business, Innovation and Employment has today published a progress update on regulations to fully implement the Financial Markets Conduct Act (FMCA) from 1 December 2014.
We highlight the key milestones to come.
Key developments
- Formal consultation on three earlier exposure drafts is nearing completion, and MBIE is now working to compile the full set of FMC regulations.
- Cabinet will make further policy decisions soon, and MBIE will provide a further update at that point.
- MBIE plans to publish a near-final version of the FMC Regulations before the election, to assist planning by industry, with the final regulations to be made in October 2014 ahead of the 1 December 2014 commencement.
- FMA recently advised it plans to consult on exemptions and guidance for offers in August 2014.
Summary of timetable for implementation
| 1 April 2014 | Phase 1 of FMCA commenced comprising general fair dealing obligations and the key growth-focussed initiatives (same class offers, employee share schemes, crowd-funding) |
| 1 December 2014 | FMCA fully commences, comprising the new disclosure requirements, go-live of the online registers, licensing obligations and the remainder of the Act |
| by 1 June 2015 | Existing DIMS providers may apply for a licence, and will have until 1 December 2015 to update their client documentation. New providers will need to comply from 1 December 2014 |
| December 2015 | Transitional period ends for most equity, debt issuers |
| December 2016 | Transitional period ends for managed investment products, non-bank deposit takers, other continuous issuers of securities, and futures contracts |
New KiwiSaver schemes and superannuation schemes must register under the FCMA and comply with the new regime from 1 December 2014.
Appendix: Overview of the key elements of the full FMC Regulations
Part 1 – Preliminary provisions
Part 2 – Fair dealing (part 2 of first exposure draft of regulations)
Part 3 – Disclosure of offers of financial products
Part 4 – Governance of financial products (part 4 of second exposure draft of regulations)
Part 5 – Dealing in financial products of markets (part 5 of second exposure draft of regulations)
Part 6 – Licensing and other regulation of market services
Licensing (part 4 of phase 1 regulations)
Disclosure obligations for peer-to-peer and crowd funding services (part 4 of phase 1 regulations)
Part 7 – Financial Reporting (part 5 of phase 1 regulations)
Part 8 – Enforcement, liability, and appeals (part 6 of phase 1 regulations)
Part 9 – Mutual recognition and miscellaneous matters (part 2 of third exposure draft regulations)
Schedules
Transitional provisions (part 7 of phase 1 regulations, but modifications and additions will be required, DIMS supplement to third exposure draft)
Disclosure schedules for financial products and discretionary investment management services (Schedules in third exposure draft of regulations and DIMS supplement)
Limited disclosure schedule and other provisions for Schedule 1 of Act (Schedule 1 of first exposure draft of regulations and phase 1 regulations. Note that some of this schedule was commenced in phase 1 of the regulations (eg, exemption for small offers), but other provisions, particularly those requiring disclosure documents, were held over to commence in phase 2 eg, requirements for a “Schedule 1 disclosure document” for government bonds.)
Other schedules for enforcement (Schedules in phase 1 regulations)
