- Roger Beaumont, NZBA chief executive, said it would have been better to target affordability regulations to riskier lending and lenders, as well as make changes to the penalties regime.
- New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said people could cancel a direct debit authority at any time through their banks and did not require the merchant’s permission to do so.
- New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said rising interest rates, albeit from historic lows, had a real impact on a borrower’s ability to afford repayments on a home loan. Another big factor was the consumer lending rule changes the Government brought in last December.
- NZBA suggests this in its submission to the Ministry for the Environment on the Government’s Draft National Adaptation Plan (NAP). It also says the NAP could be more ambitious, and should include more detail to be more effective.
- “We believe that by working with government and organisations like FinCap, we can find a way to both protect vulnerable consumers from unscrupulous lenders and ensure a less restricted flow of credit to those who can afford it.”
- “Our banks are telling me that approximately 10% of loans that would’ve been approved prior to December 1 are now being declined because of these regulations.”
- New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said the current economic and regulatory environment certainly affected first-home buyers.
- “Financial institutions are in contractual relationships with intermediaries,” the association wrote. “Intermediaries are not their employees or contractors, and financial institutions do not have the ability to “manage” or “supervise” intermediaries outside of what is contractually agreed on a case-by-case basis.” The NZBA called for “monitoring”, rather than “managing” and “supervising”, intermediaries.
- “While we agree with the government’s aim to protect vulnerable consumers from unscrupulous lenders, the one-size-fits-all approach for all lenders and all loan types means banks don’t have the same discretion or flexibility they used to.”
- Beaumont said the one-size fits all approach for all lenders and all loan types meant the banks did not have the same discretion or flexibility as before.
