The head of the board charged with setting up New Zealand's new super-regulator says the authority won't be a backstop to poor investment decisions.
Securities Commission member Simon Botherway - appointed last week to chair the nine-member establishment board tasked with setting up the Financial Markets Authority - says investors will still have to assess the risk of their own investments.
The authority won't be a backstop to poor decision-making, Mr Botherway says, but it will play an important role in restoring investor confidence, and it'll be looking offshore for the best ways to better protect investors from errant firms.
In the meantime, he says, there's plenty of work to do to get it up and running. One of the most important decisions will be determining an appropriate governance structure for the authority.
The board - fellow members of which include the Shareholders' Association's Bruce Sheppard, and former Commerce Commission chairwoman Paula Rebstock - plans to meet for the first time in early June.
Early next year, the new regulator will take over the work currently done by the Securities Commission, the Economic Development Ministry and the NZX.
