by Rob Hosking
The money is earmarked for what is clearly a planned crackdown following the enactment of the Securities Markets and Institutions Act last year and the upcoming - and as yet unpublished – Securities and Trading Law Reform Bill.
The budget estimates explicitly state the extra money is partly for the bill which has yet to even be introduced to Parliament – an unusual move, given that the legislation could be drastically changed during its passage, and also because the bill is unlikely to come into effect in this financial year.
The commission also received an extra $$554,000 for its ongoing statutory functions. The annual amount set aside for the commission’s litigation fund remained the same, at $844,000.
As Good Returns reported two years ago, the commission faced a big Budget battle back then when the government gave it increased powers but expected it to manage them with just half a million dollars in new spending.
After intensive pre-Budget lobbying by the then chief executive John Farrell, the commission managed to get enough to set up the litigation fund, plus approval for new staff and new premises to house them.
However that was not as much as the commission received this year.
Rob Hosking is a Wellington-based freelance writer specialising in political, economic and IT related issues.
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