“Your bank will reimburse any losses for unauthorised electronic banking or card fraud if you took reasonable steps to protect your banking, and complied with your terms and conditions.”
The New Zealand regulators have annual work programmes to improve the governance and operations of our banking environment. Banks here work regularly with them on these initiatives.
NZX
Justice Committee
Banks need to ask certain customers to provide information about their tax status. If you’ve been contacted, it’s important that you respond to your bank, regardless of your tax status.
“Banks work closely with their agri clients, through good times and bad. Keeping the lines of communication open is critical to the ongoing success of farmers and their banks.”
New Zealand banks are reminding customers who have been asked about their foreign tax status that they need to respond to their bank as soon as possible.
International regulations, reflected in New Zealand law, require New Zealand banks to undertake due diligence on the foreign tax status of their customers and provide relevant related information to Inland Revenue to share with other countries.
New Zealand Bankers’ Association deputy chief executive Antony Buick-Constable says: “If your bank has contacted you, it’s important that you respond. Banks need to ask certain customers to provide information about their tax status. If you’ve been contacted, it’s important that you respond to your bank, regardless of your tax status.
“If you don’t respond, or if your response is incomplete, your bank will be required to freeze or close accounts opened from 1 July 2017 to comply with the law.”
Banks are required to report relevant customer and account information to Inland Revenue by 30 June 2018, and annually from that date.
Although banks may contact their customers seeking tax information to comply with this legislation, they will never ask for password or other security information, including access to accounts.
The Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) adopts the Common Reporting Standard (CRS) to share information among participating countries, and is led by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The information sharing is reciprocal.
The law, which is administered by Inland Revenue, came into force on 1 July 2017 and is aimed at reducing global tax evasion by account holders or their controlling persons. Banks and other financial institutions need to identify accounts held by foreign tax residents, and report relevant information to Inland Revenue, which in turn shares that information with other countries subject to the terms of international tax treaties.
Inland Revenue provides more information about AEOI here: https://www.ird.govt.nz/international-tax/exchange-of-information/crs/aeoi-and-crs
ENDS
The New Zealand Bankers’ Association has announced the launch of a new edition of the Code of Banking Practice, aiming to give all customers a good banking experience.
The New Zealand Bankers’ Association (NZBA) has launched a new edition of the Code of Banking Practice aimed at giving all customers a good banking experience. It sets out clearly what you can expect from your bank, and comes into effect on 1 June 2018.
New Zealand Bankers’ Association deputy chief executive Antony Buick-Constable says, “Banks care about their customers. The revised Code sets out how they do this in a way that’s easy to understand. I’d encourage anyone who has a bank account to check out the revised Code.
“The Code says what you can do if you’re not happy with anything your bank has done. They’ll try to put it right, quickly and fairly.
“It also provides the Banking Ombudsman with more flexibility in determining what good banking practice is.
“And it’ll keep up to date with changes to the way we’re banking and new obligations for banks under consumer law and regulations.”
The latest edition of the Code contains five high level commitments that banks make to their customers.
“It’s important to us that our customers have as good a banking experience as possible.”
The refreshed Code takes a high level approach rather than the more prescriptive edition of 2012 that it replaces. It includes the good banking practice principles underlying the previous edition.
In the revised Code NZBA member banks promise to:
- Treat their customers fairly and reasonably
- Communicate with their customers clearly and effectively
- Respect their customers’ privacy and confidentiality and keep their banking systems secure
- Act responsibly if they offer or provide customers with credit
- Deal effectively with customer concerns and complaints.
“What we’ve done with the latest Code is make it more accessible to customers. We’ve also avoided duplicating customer contracts.
“While the new Code looks quite different from the last edition, there is no change to existing consumer protections. In fact, it raises the bar for banks. In adopting the five customer promises in the Code, banks will have to think carefully about how their conduct meets those commitments.
“We’re pleased with the look and feel of the revised Code. It makes very clear what you can expect from your bank. I think it’s something we can be proud of,” says Buick-Constable.
The Code was developed by NZBA members in consultation with the public, other industry stakeholders, and the Banking Ombudsman.
The revised Code has the WriteMark plain language standard to help ensure it is clear and easy to read.
The Code is available in bank branches, on bank websites, and on the NZBA website here: https://www.nzba.org.nz/consume r-information/code-banking-practice/code-of-banking-practice/.
NZBA first introduced the Code of Banking Practice in 1992. All NZBA member banks agree to observe the Code as a minimum industry standard.
ENDS
Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment