30 June 2008 Time
Reserve Bank accredits BNZ under Basel II Accord
The Reserve Bank of New Zealand today announced that the Bank of New Zealand (BNZ) has been accredited to adopt the
internal models approach for credit risk under the Basel II banking supervisory regime from the third quarter of 2008.
The BNZ was accredited to use internal models for operational risk in December 2007.
Reserve Bank Deputy Governor Grant Spencer said that with today's announcement there are now four New Zealand banks
accredited to use internal models for credit and operational risk under Basel II.
Mr Spencer added that in order for the BNZ to retain its accreditation status it must comply with a number of
accreditation requirements. Some of these requirements relate to specific risk parameters to be used in some risk
models, and improvements to be made to the bank's risk models over time. BNZ's accreditation requirements are similar in
nature to those that apply to other accredited banks.
ENDS