New Zealand securities law has recently undergone the biggest change in 30 years with the introduction and implementation of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (Financial Market Conduct Act).
The Financial Market Conduct Act and related regulations aim to raise the standards of New Zealand’s financial market service providers by governing how financial products are created, promoted and sold, and regulating those who offer, deal and trade them in New Zealand. Specifically, the Financial Market Conduct Act introduced a new regulatory framework for managed investment schemes, which Greenplan Forestry Limited (Greenplan, we) is required to comply with.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) is the regulatory body for New Zealand’s capital markets and financial services sector. Their mission is to promote the development of fair, efficient and transparent financial markets.
Greenplan is now required to be licensed as a manager of managed investment schemes (MIS Manager). Our licence permits us to invest solely in forestry assets (excluding managed funds). In addition, each of Greenplan’s 63 forestry partnerships became registered managed investment schemes from 25 November 2016.
Please visit the Disclose Register at the NZ Companies Office by for details relating to the forestry partnerships and for copies of, among other things, their respective governing documents, financial statements, and annual reports for the forestry partnerships.
To become a licensed MIS Manager, we underwent an application and assessment process with the FMA. The application and assessment process broadly involved the preparation of an application setting out how we did, and would continue to, satisfy the minimum standards required to obtain a license. These minimum standards relate to all areas of our business including our people, corporate governance, operational infrastructure, financial management, and our risk and compliance frameworks. We also had to, among other things, increase our operational and governance capabilities.
The FMA proactively monitors all licence holders to ensure that they are meeting their obligations. It does this by using a mix of desk-based research, phone discussions and on-site office visits.
We are also required to appoint a supervisor to oversee our performance as the manager of the forestry partnerships. The appointed supervisor is Covenant Trustee Services Limited (Covenant). Covenant is licensed by the FMA under the Financial Markets Supervisors Act 2011. You can find out more information about Covenant and their contact details on their website.