We launched the Relationship Charter in 2018 to provide a shared understanding of how the RBNZ and firms should work together and help us achieve our goal of building the best possible ‘regulator-regulated’ relationships, Director of Prudential Supervision Scott McKinnon says.

Every year we measure how we are performing against the charter by surveying banks and insurers. This year non-bank deposit takers (NBDTs) were surveyed for the first time as well.

“We are continuing to evolve our supervisory approach based on feedback received from our regulated entities and I'm proud of the progress that we've achieved. The increase in the ratings from our regulated insurers since last year is particularly encouraging,” Mr McKinnon says.

“I also acknowledge that there is always room for further improvement. We will continue to assess the results and look for ways in which we can develop our regulated relationships even more.”

Participants highlighted many aspects where the Reserve Bank performed well over the past 12 months, including having regular, open and honest communication and engagement, the RBNZ having managed time frames and agendas well, and indicated that stakeholders have found RBNZ events and meetings to be helpful and engaging.

Key suggestions for what the Reserve Bank could do differently to improve the relationship included more proactive and personal contact from RBNZ, and flexibility on regulatory projects.

Key findings:

♦90% of bank participants gave an overall rating of ‘good’ or ‘very good’ for the relationship. This is similar to previous years (93% in 2022 and 91% in 2021).

♦Insurer participants' ratings of the overall relationship with the Reserve Bank have increased significantly since last year (92% rating the relationship as ‘good’ or ‘very good’ in 2023 compared to 72% in 2022).

♦A majority (78%) of non-bank deposit taker participants rated their overall relationship with RBNZ strongly. We are very happy with this result, given the Reserve Bank does not directly supervise this sector (that role being undertaken by Corporate Trustees).

♦We asked new questions about RBNZ's prudential policy consultation process. The 3 sectors combined gave an overall rating of 76% ‘good’ or ‘very good’.

What happens next?

We are continuing to evolve our supervisory approach based on the feedback received from firms and we will continue looking for ways in which we can improve our relationship even more.

More information

Our relationship charter with regulated entities