Kiwibank chief executive Steve Jurkovich has been elected chair of the New Zealand Bankers’ Association and takes on the role today. This is the first time Kiwibank has chaired NZBA.
ASB chief executive Vittoria Shortt was elected deputy chair. The chair and deputy chair take on their respective roles for two years.
New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont welcomed Mr Jurkovich as incoming chair. “We’re delighted to have Kiwibank chairing the NZBA Council for the first time. This leadership role reflects Kiwibank’s contribution as a major bank in the industry.”
Mr Jurkovich said banking touches the lives of millions of Kiwis every day and the Covid-19 pandemic showed how banks can and should step up to support their customers through such difficult times.
“As chair of NZBA and chief executive of the largest New Zealand owned bank, I look forward to highlighting the role banks play in supporting the economic wellbeing of New Zealanders and New Zealand businesses, and to building the public perception of banks.”
Mr Jurkovich and Mr Beaumont thanked Westpac CEO David McLean for chairing NZBA over the past three years.
“David made a special contribution as chair,” Mr Beaumont said.
“He provided valuable leadership at a time when the banking industry faced issues including the conduct and culture review, an increase in banks’ capital requirements, and more recently the Covid-19 pandemic.”
Established in 1891, NZBA is the voice of the banking industry. The association works with member banks on non-competitive issues to tell the industry’s story and develop policy outcomes that deliver for New Zealanders.
The association currently has 17 members, all of which are banks registered under the Reserve Bank of New Zealand Act 1989. The association’s governing body is its council, comprising the chief executive of each member bank. In addition to these members, NZBA has nine affiliate memberships with other organisations that support the banking industry.
ENDS
The New Zealand Bankers’ Association confirms Treasury officials met with its members, including the CEOs of the country’s biggest banks, on March 16 to talk at a high level about the possibility of introducing a term lending facility.
“Other important factors that determine retail interest rates include the cost of wholesale funding from overseas and the cost of domestic funding, which includes rates of return on retail bank deposits.”
“They’re doing it to provide immediate loan relief to customers in need who have been financially affected by the pandemic. It gives them the ability to defer all loan repayments at an uncertain time, and interest continues to accumulate. Banks are responsible lenders and suggest customers only defer all loan repayments if they need to.”
“We, and the six participating banks, want to make sure the hubs have the best chance to succeed. That makes it important that the pilot is run when social activity is as close to normal as possible. Otherwise the visitation and transaction data we need to test the viability of these hubs won’t provide a realistic picture of how popular they will be in the community.”
A survey by the New Zealand Bankers’ Association last month found New Zealanders’ broadly positive attitude towards the banks had increased slightly but not significantly and this had been spurred by the introduction of the six monthly mortgage deferral scheme.
“These serviceability rates are reviewed from time to time in line with what’s going on in the market. These rates will vary from bank to bank depending on a number of factors including their particular risk appetite and exposure to certain types of lending. Ultimately it’s all about lending responsibly and doing the right thing by the customer.”
“It is critical to allow the time to ensure that the legislation and regulations are workable and proportionately address the identified issues, and that financial institutions and their intermediaries have sufficient time to ensure compliance with whatever is set as the final regime.”
In its submission the New Zealand Bankers Association’s deputy chief executive and general counsel Antony Buick-Constable said while it supported the underpinning policy goal of the bill – to treat consumers fairly through the lifecycle of financial products – the bill itself needed significant refinement to ensure a clear framework was developed.
Roger Beaumont, chief executive of the New Zealand Bankers’ Association (NZBA) expected an increase in loans made by banks under the guarantee scheme in the coming weeks. “As people get through the immediate survival period, they will be able to think about their longer term position.”