NZ Urban Development news from the media | 6 August 2024 | Overly-prescriptive CCCFA regulations scrapped

Overly-prescriptive CCCFA regulations scrapped

Strict loan affordability requirements and arduous, overly prescriptive checks are a thing of the past, say Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly and Housing Minister Chris Bishop.

“From tomorrow, 31 July, eleven pages of overly prescriptive affordability regulations will no longer be part of the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA), in a move that will enable Kiwis to access finance with greater ease and confidence,” Mr Bayly says.

“The affordability regulations stipulated very specific requirements a customer had to satisfy before being able to take out a loan. The hoops customers had to jump through resulted in a confusing and stressful process.

“Not only was it inefficient and frustrating for customers, but it also significantly increased the burden of compliance, leading to increased costs for lenders. This had a particularly chilling effect on lenders’ ability to offer small loans of under $5,000.”

https://www.beehive.govt.nz/release/overly-prescriptive-cccfa-regulations-scrapped

Du Val Group entities placed into interim receivership at request of Financial Markets Authority

The FMA says interim receivers are generally appointed to seek clarity around the financial position of a company  or group of companies.

As well as placing the various Du Val entities into interim receivership, the High Court also approved the FMA's request for asset preservation orders, which the FMA said were to support what it described as an active investigation into Du Val Group.

In March this year the FMA issued a formal warning to Du Val Capital Partners as the general partner of the Du Val Mortgage Fund Limited Partnership, regarding a potential breach of the Financial Markets Conduct Act relating to misleading or deceptive conduct that was likely to mislead or deceive investors.

https://www.interest.co.nz/property/129024/du-val-group-entities-placed-interim-receivership-request-financial-markets

Smelter sought assurances about $46m carbon subsidy before signing power deals

Government officials provided the Tiwai Point aluminium smelter with an indication of the increased carbon subsidy it could expect under new power contracts before multinational minerals company Rio Tinto finalised the deals.

In a November briefing from the smelter’s chief executive Chris Blenkiron to Energy Minister Simeon Brown and Resources Minister Shane Jones, obtained under the Official Information Act, the smelter asked for free allocation of carbon units for its electricity usage to be restored. That allocation was set to zero by the previous government, when officials determined the price the smelter paid for power was so low that it did not pass on any carbon costs.

At current carbon prices, the restoration of the subsidy to the level it received prior to that decision by the Labour government could be worth $46 million a year. Climate campaign group Don’t Subsidise Pollution worked out the total value of the new subsidy could be $2 billion between now and 2050.

https://newsroom.co.nz/2024/08/02/smelter-sought-assurances-about-46m-carbon-subsidy-before-signing-power-deals/

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