Author: Philip vanDyk

New Zealand Bankers’ Association chief executive Roger Beaumont said banks worked closely with any agricultural customers who were experiencing financial issues.

A report commissioned by bank lobby group the New Zealand Bankers’ Association, heavy on criticism of the capital proposals, argued the potential benefits of appealing prudential regulatory decisions on their merits are large.

The Bankers Association says lenders work closely with farmers and it points to the low number of mortgagee farm sales – fewer than 10 a year out of 52,000 farms across the country.

They also issued a statement, saying that bank conduct had improved over the last 10 years, with an increased focus on customer outcomes.

In a submission, the NZ Bankers’ Association (NZBA) said it agrees and supports the objective of maintaining a sound banking system and guarding against banking crises, but argues that NZ’s major banks are already well capitalised.

“Our banks are profitable because they’re very efficient compared to similar banks around the world. They manage their costs very well. Another factor is that they did relatively well through the global financial crisis. None failed or were bailed out by the government, unlike in Europe and the US where they recovered their profitability more… Read more »

Roger Beaumont said New Zealand banks were strong. “There’s a couple of reasons for that. They are well capitalised and they’re very good at managing their costs, which makes them very efficient and helps explain their returns on equity.”