Regulatory Interview with FSC Head of Regulatory Affairs, Carissa Perano

Carissa Perano, Head of Regulatory Affairs at FSC, highlights the wins for the year 2023 and shares key insights for 2024.

What were the highlights or the biggest wins for 2023?

The strength of our industry voice was evidenced by the FSC responding to 14 consultations in 2023. Whilst a win for 2023, what was also significant was the increasing amount of associated engagement with regulators and officials including on targeted consultations.

This signals a growing willingness to engage with the sector, to gain an understanding of business operations and positions and to achieve changes that work practically to positively impact the industry and consumers.

The FSC hosted a significant number of guests at Committees and Focus Groups specifically on live consultations enabling feedback from members and discussions in a more informal manner or in lieu of written feedback.

See all the consultations in 2023 here.

What do you see changing for 2024 as a new Government comes in?

Whilst specific approach is perhaps too early to comment on, there will be an initial focus on change of existing legislation and requirements rather than new initiatives.

Provided this is done with a focus on improvement or refining rather than complete repeals, this has the potential to reduce compliance burden and cost savings and also streamlining duplication of obligations. 

What do you think will land in 2024/ trends you think we’ll see for 2024?

There are a number of items that are significant for the industry that will continue regardless of the change of Government. The Insurance Solvency Standards and IPSA are good examples of this. Hopefully this will also be true for the Insurance Contracts Law and Consumer and Product Data Right Bills, but this will be dependent on an early focus on resourcing of government agencies; where it is light and where it could be scaled back. Whether this is done successfully depends on the perspective taken but the impact on climate initiatives and the Climate Related Disclosures and CoFI regimes will be watched with anticipation.

Legislation on modern slavery reporting is overdue but with many interested parties pushing for its introduction, it shouldn’t be far away. However, we may see the new Government taking a slightly different approach to their predecessors and this should be to the industry’s advantage if learnings from the Australian regime are taken into account.

Anything you think the industry should know about?

It is important to recognise and utilise opportunities for engagement. Whilst responding to consultations may often seem as simply part of a process, time and resource is put into reviewing responses that the industry provides.

Reinforcing industry submissions with individual submission alignment strengthens these messages along with embracing opportunities to meet and hear from regulators and officials in FSC Committees and ad hoc focus groups. If you have any suggestions in this regard, feel free to get in contact.

For more information, please contact:

Carissa Perano
Head of Regulatory Affairs
carissa.perano@fsc.org.nz