Clark has already pointed the finger at the banks, hinting that they may not have been complying with responsible lending obligations before the changes came in. However in a statement this week, the New Zealand Bankers’ Association said it did not know what Clark was referring to.
Reserve Bank of New Zealand (more…)
Reserve Bank of New Zealand (more…)
Ministry of Justice
“Banks take their obligations to comply with the law very seriously. That was the case before the rule change and remains the case.”
Clark said banks weren’t adhering to responsible lending rules before new legislation came in last year. The Bankers Association’s Roger Beaumont told Heather du Plessis-Allan Clark’s not correct.
“We’ve made several submissions on the CCCFA law change and new regulations since 2018. In our submissions we’ve set out our concerns all along the way. The investigation might be able to clarify some of those concerns and hopefully identify some useful solutions.”
“The suggestion that banks were not complying with their responsible lending obligations before the latest CCCFA changes comes as a surprise. Banks are simply complying with the new rules as they are written.
“Banks are in the business of lending, it’s fundamental to what they do, they want to be able to lend to customers but they’re not going to do that if it risks breaching their regulatory obligations because the consequences for that are really serious.”
“The law change has made banks’ ability to lend less flexible,” says New Zealand Bankers Association CEO Roger Beaumont.