Southall moved from review

The Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment has confirmed Iain Southall is no longer leading the review.

An MBIE spokesperson said a reallocation of resources at the Ministry meant the Financial Markets Policy Team has taken over responsibility for the project.

The team is managed by James Hartley, who has spent the past five years working on the implementation of the new Financial Markets Conduct Act.

There had already been criticism from advisers that the faces they dealt with in meetings with the Ministry about the review changed frequently.

Senior policy adviser Daniel Twaddle, who was regarded as having a good grasp of advisers’ concerns, has left MBIE.

He spent time in two adviser businesses, including Michael Dowling's Stratus Financial Services and John Killick's Fox Plan in Wellington.

James Campbell, believed to be responsible for writing much of the issues paper for the review, has gone to Melbourne.

But the MBIE spokesperson said other key project team members, including Sharon Corbett, Abbe Marks and Nova Mercier, remained unchanged.

Southall has been appointed manager of MBIE’s business law team, which is a new group including the previously separate intellectual property policy and corporate governance teams.

Submissions have closed on the issues paper for the review and MBIE is conducting further consultation.

An options paper will be released later this year and recommendations given to the Commerce Minister by the middle of next year.

Comments from our readers

On 24 August 2015 at 8:09 am John Milner said:

This revolving door situation with MBIE and the FMA with its staff is quite unacceptable, given the massive changes undergoing our industry. It must be very difficult to have a meaningful conversation with someone while thinking they are merely using their current position as a stepping stone to something better.

On 25 August 2015 at 10:06 am Tim Williams said:

While not seeking to detract from your general point, John, in this case, James Hartley has considerable background from his experiences on the FMCA reforms and is a welcome return. He is well known to many of the likely contributors on the FAA reforms, and his established communication lines and background knowledge should expedite efficient and constructive input.

Southall moved from review

There has been a change at the helm of the Financial Advisers Act review.

Monday, August 24th 2015, 6:00AM 2 Comments

Comments from our readers

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