Reserve Bank Welcomes New Legislative Foundations

The Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Te Pūtea Matua has today welcomed commencement of its new foundational legislation the RBNZ Act 2021.

The new Act replaces previous legislation that was more than 30 years old, and ushers in a new statutory governance board responsible for all decision-making at Te Pūtea Matua (except decisions reserved for the Monetary Policy Committee).

The eight member governance board replaces the previous advisory board and is chaired by Professor Neil Quigley, who over the past nine months has also led the interim transition board overseeing preparations for the changes required under the Act.

Professor Quigley said he was pleased and proud to be leading a group of such highly experienced, diverse and talented directors, and that its strengthened governance arrangements would stand the Reserve Bank in good stead for the future.

“The next few years will be a critical period for the organisation. Expectations of central banks globally have never been higher, and New Zealanders are looking to us to deliver a strong and stable financial system and help steer the economy through what will undoubtedly continue to be challenging times ahead,” Professor Quigley said.

“The Act also formalises the role of Te Tai Ōhanga | The Treasury as our new monitoring agency and we welcome the additional oversight this will provide as we work to meet our agreed measures and targets.

The Reserve Bank Governor is a member of the new Board as well as RBNZ Chief Executive. Governor Adrian Orr said he wanted to thank and acknowledge the many people across the organisation and at the Treasury who have worked hard to implement all the changes required under the Act.

“Our strengthened legislative foundations are a significant step in our wider transformation efforts under which Te Pūtea Matua is evolving into a modern, agile, fit for purpose central bank for Aotearoa,” Mr Orr said.

“We have strong leadership and exceptionally capable people, and I have full confidence in our readiness to meet the increased levels of accountability and transparency required of us.

This includes releasing our new Statement of Financial Risk Management later this month and Statements of Prudential Policy, Intent and Performance Expectations in August. These key strategic documents set out how we approach our work, what we aim to achieve, and how we measure our performance.”
 

More information

• RBNZ Act 2021
• Our board of directors
• New RBNZ board takes up role from 1 July

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