This Government bill aims to ensure financial dispute resolution schemes are governed and operated in an effective and independent manner for the benefit of consumers. It was enacted as the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Amendment Act 2026.
Parliament advanced this bill under urgency (committee of whole house, second reading, third reading) — moving it through faster than usual, with less time than normal for public submissions.
A Government bill amending the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008, the law behind the register of financial firms and the schemes that resolve consumer complaints. It aims to tighten who appears on the Financial Service Providers Register — reducing the risk that overseas businesses register to look falsely like they are New Zealand-regulated — and to strengthen the independent dispute-resolution schemes people use to complain about banks, insurers and advisers without going to court. Changes include letting the responsible Minister appoint the independent reviewer of a scheme, and setting requirements for the skills, experience and independence of scheme board members. It affects financial providers and their customers.
Origin: part of a wider package of financial-services reform bills. Argument for: it protects consumers and New Zealand's reputation by curbing misuse of the register and making complaint schemes more genuinely independent and better governed. Argument against: extra compliance and new ministerial appointment powers may raise costs for providers or concentrate influence, and some argue the register-misuse problem has already been largely addressed by earlier reforms.
See the Parliament.nz ↗ site for the full bill.