NZ Herald
Homeowners’ good news is savers’ loss
02/06/2012
While homeowners are jumping up and down with excitement over the low mortgage rates, savers aren’t having so much fun. “Balancing the needs and aspirations of borrowers and depositors, within the context of global uncertainty and a very competitive market, provides plenty of challenges for our banks,” Hope says.
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Good public purse management keeps cost of credit down
24/05/2012
Prudent management of the public purse is essential to keeping down the cost of credit said the New Zealand Bankers’ Association today in response to Budget 2012. The Association supported moves to ensure borrowing costs for the government, householders and business owners do not increase unnecessarily. Initiatives that kept the NZ dollar at a realistic...
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Interest.co.nz
HSBC and the Co-operative Bank both cut some advertised fixed-term mortgage rates and some term deposit rates
22/05/2012
Bank lobby group, the New Zealand Banker’s Association (NZBA), says cuts in fixed interest rates highlight the level of “intense competition” in the New Zealand banking sector.
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Flipside of interest rate cuts
22/05/2012
Recent cuts in fixed interest rates highlight the level of intense competition in the New Zealand banking sector. This is good news for borrowers, but will impact on returns for bank depositors. Interest rates are at historically low levels. This is due to a drop in wholesale interest rates as a result of ongoing uncertainty...
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Interest.co.nz
RBNZ pushes out timeframes for the introduction of the Basel III capital reforms and its Open Bank Resolution policy
10/05/2012
Kirk Hope, CEO of bank lobby group the New Zealand Banker’s Association, said it was positive the timeframe for OBR’s implementation had been pushed back but it was still too tight.
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Interest.co.nz
Reserve Bank needs to promote banking competition after big 4 made more profit in 4yrs after crisis than before it, Green Party says
10/05/2012
New Zealand Bankers Association CEO Kirk Hope told interest.co.nz that there was a high level of competition between New Zealand banks. Banks in New Zealand also contributed around NZ$6 billion to the economy each year via their own operating expenses – mostly wages to over 25,000 employees – and taxes paid in New Zealand.
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Stuff.co.nz
US taxman’s long arm threatens costly Kiwi headaches
04/05/2012
New Zealand financial institutions are fighting a United States tax that threatens to saddle them with millions of dollars in regulation costs and could end up costing Kiwi consumers. Outright opposition was not an option because non-compliant institutions would be slapped with hefty withholding penalties. It was “a very likely outcome” that those increased regulatory costs...
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3 News
Anzac Day banking glitch to be investigated
25/04/2012
“Banks are certainly standing behind their customers,” says Kirk Hope of the New Zealand Bankers Association. “No customers will be adversely affected as a result of this payments issue.”
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Survey finds NZ banks well placed for challenges ahead
24/04/2012
The New Zealand Bankers’ Association today welcomed KPMG’s annual Financial Institutions Performance Survey (FIPS). In its 25th year, the 2011 survey shows New Zealand has a strong, stable and highly competitive banking sector that continues to serve New Zealand businesses and consumers very well in a globally uncertain environment. “Our banks are well placed to...
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Stuff.co.nz
Loan shark regulators must be visible
13/04/2012
Loan shark regulators should open shops in at-risk areas to deter dodgy lending and give borrowers easier access to official help, says a banking leader. Bankers’ Association chief executive Kirk Hope said opening a shopfront would help regulators enforce the rules against predatory lenders in areas where they were concentrated.
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