UPFRONT Wrap up on red tape

New Zealand regulators are becoming more professional in how they go about their work – but their total impact and cost to local business is increasing.
Those are findings from survey carried out by consultancy Team Factors and law firm Minter Ellison Rudd Watts in association with the Corporate Lawyers Association of New Zealand and involving companies with combined annual revenue of $30-$40 billion which deal frequently with regulators.
Respondents reported that while enforcement activity level and perceived independence has remained much the same over the past two years, the regulators are reckoned to have improved or at least maintained both their professionalism and knowledgeability. However, respondents found that the cost (60 percent) and business impact (50 percent) of dealing with regulators had somewhat or significantly worsened over the past five years. They also see regulators as mostly sticking to monitoring/compliance/enforcement regime rather than actively helping generate best practice solutions.
A total of 15 regulatory bodies were involved ranging from the Commerce and Securities Commissions to the Banking Ombudsman and Advertising Standards Complaints Board. full report on the survey including regulatory creep, provision of information, legal professional privilege, shaping market behaviour and communication/leaks is available from www.teamfactors.com.