24/6/2019 NZ central bank seeks reports from ANZANZ New Zealand has pledged to co-operate with requests from the country's central bank to provide two reports assuring it is operating in a prudent manner.
The first report will cover ANZ NZ’s compliance with the Reserve Bank’s current and historical capital adequacy requirements The second will assess the effectiveness of the bank's director’s attestation and assurance framework, focusing on internal governance, risk management and internal controls. Monday's Reserve Bank of New Zealand directive follows a decision last month to revoke ANZ's local licence to calculate its own operational risk capital and raising minimum capital requirement. Reserve Bank Governor Adrian Orr said on Monday that ANZ NZ remained sound and well capitalised, and that it appeared focused on the issues at hand. "These formal reviews will allow us to work with the bank to ensure the public, and we as regulator, can have continued confidence in the bank and that it is operating in a prudent manner,” Mr Orr said. ANZ NZ chairman Sir John Key said in a statement the bank had already been working on commencing an independent review to provide assurance its capital models and the directors' attestation process were robust. "Following discussions with the RBNZ, the directors agree that the best way to achieve this assurance is working with the RBNZ and an independent party to undertake the necessary reviews,” Sir John said. ANZ NZ held more than $NZ12.4 billion of capital at March 31, which it said was almost $NZ3.5 billion more than its regulatory requirement. New Zealand's deputy prime minister has criticised suggestions Sri Lanka's Easter Sunday bombings were retaliation for the Christchurch mosque shootings, saying his country is being "misused".
Sri Lanka's junior minister for defence, Ruwan Wijewardene, last week said early investigations had revealed the bombing of churches and hotels that killed 253 people had been in revenge for shootings at two New Zealand mosques on March 15, which killed 50. But New Zealand Foreign Minister Winston Peters on Tuesday reiterated his government had seen no evidence of a link. He said expert advice suggested the Sri Lankan bombings would have been planned from well before the Christchurch terror attack. "It's a slightly cheap shot, I suppose, to try to explain it away. Let's see the evidence," Peters told Sky News. "Sometimes it pays to ... get the facts first before you beat your lips with an opinion." Peters said it was a "fair suspicion" the claim had been made to deflect away from intelligence failings in Sri Lanka. "We're not going to stand here and have our country misused," Peters said. While Islamic State has claimed responsibility, Sri Lankan police have in recent days raided the headquarters of a hardline Islamist group, the National Thawheedh Jamaath, founded by the suspected ringleader of the bombings. The authorities believe Zahran Hashim masterminded and was one of the nine suicide bombers in the attacks. More than 100 people, including foreigners from Syria and Egypt, have been detained for questioning over the bombings. |
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