NZX
11/12/2014 08:30
GENERAL
NOT PRICE SENSITIVE
REL: 0830 HRS NZX Limited
GENERAL: NZX: NZX announces regulation initiatives
NZX today announced a number of governance and process initiatives that will
improve both its communication of regulatory decisions and processes and its
arrangements for handling perceived or potential conflicts.
These initiatives are among several agreed by NZX and the Financial Markets
Authority (FMA) as part of FMA's third annual General Obligations Review of
NZX, released in June 2014.
Key initiatives include:
- Establishment of a Conflicts Committee of the Board to oversee NZX's
arrangements for managing conflicts. The committee is responsible for
recommending enhancements to policies and procedures that relate to conflicts
management, and will undertake an annual review of NZX's compliance with the
arrangements in place. The members of the committee are Simon Power and
Therese Walsh, with a third member to be appointed in due course.
- Appointment of Derek Johnston as an independent non-director member and
incoming chairman of the Regulatory Governance Committee (RGC) of the Board.
This committee was established in August 2013 and is charged with reviewing
the adherence of NZX Regulation to its key performance metrics, including the
retrospective review of participant and issuer decisions made in discharge
of NZX's regulatory functions. Mr Johnston is a commercial barrister and
arbitrator with extensive experience in complex companies, securities,
takeovers, commercial and competition law matters. He was a member of the NZ
Markets Disciplinary Tribunal from its establishment in 2004 until June 2014,
and NZMDT chair for the last three years of his tenure. He will assume the
role of chairman in early 2015.
- Expanding the scope of the RGC's mandate to include reviewing regulatory
policy proposals.
- Revising the process for regulatory decision-making in circumstances where
NZX's Head of Market Supervision considers that specific NZX conflicts may
arise, or there could be a significant market impact. NZX Regulation will
consult with the Chair of the NZ Markets Disciplinary Tribunal in these
situations.
- Improved transparency of NZX's conflict management arrangements,
enforcement procedures and regulatory processes. This includes the launch of
a revised Regulation section of NZX.com (https://www.nzx.com/regulation),
which provides easily accessible and understandable information about NZX's
regulatory activities.
NZX continues to investigate a number of additional initiatives and projects
that will continue to contribute to operation of its markets in a fair,
orderly and transparent way.
For further information please contact:
Kate McLaughlin
Corporate Communications
M: 027 533 4529
E: [email protected]
End CA:00258749 For:NZX Type:GENERAL Time:2014-12-11 08:30:07
A personalised tool to help users track selected stocks. Delivering real-time notifications on price updates, announcements, and performance stats on each to help make informed investment decisions.
