FMA will look at how long banks take to pass on OCR changes

With the Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) legislation having kicked in from March 31, one of the things that the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) will be focusing on will be how quickly banks pass on changes in the official cash rate (OCR) to borrowers.

“I can assure you that the time taken to pass on changes in the OCR to banks’ customers will be something that we will be paying very close attention to,” FMA chief executive Samantha Barrass told parliament’s finance and expenditure committee.

“That cuts to the heart of their treatment of customers that we expect from the banks,” Barrass said.

She was answering a question from Green Party co-leader Chloe Swarbrick who detailed someone wishing to make a complaint before March 31 being passed by the Commerce Commission to the FMA and to the banks themselves.