Consultation: Proposed class exemption for entities incorporated in foreign jurisdictions from New Zealand climate reporting duties

April 2026

An exemption has now been granted to provide relief for certain overseas entities, subject to a comparable mandatory overseas climate reporting regime, from the climate reporting, assurance, and record-keeping duties they have under Part 7A of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.

Initially, the notice only specifies Australia as an approved jurisdiction, and Australian Sustainability Reporting Standard AASB S2 Climate-related Disclosures as an approved foreign climate reporting standard. The FMA intends to add to the notice other countries as approved jurisdictions and other approved foreign climate reporting standards. The FMA will initiate the process to assess other countries and their reporting standards as the need arises. It will conduct a targeted consultation with affected stakeholders as part of any assessment process. Any additions to the notice will be publicly notified.

Finally, the notice includes various conditions – including requirements which have the effect of mandating that exempt Australian entities must file on the New Zealand CRD register a copy of their annual report containing the sustainability report and the auditor’s report on the sustainability report.

The notice came into force on 31 March 2026. The FMA can grant exemptions only for 5 years.  Accordingly, the exemption notice will expire on 30 March 2031. This may cause issues for entities with a 30 December and 31 March balance date, as they will have been able to rely on the exemption notice during their December 2030/March 2031 financial year, but the exemption will expire before those entities are finally required to file those climate statements. The FMA intends to consult early on the rollover of the exemption to provide some certainty for those affected entities.

The notice does not recognise that the foreign climate statements being produced could cover the exempt entity but be produced by another entity (for example, the exempt entity’s parent company. These cases are small in number and will be considered on an individual basis. Similarly, the notice does not allow a New Zealand-incorporated climate reporting entity to use a broadly equivalent overseas standard to align with its parent’s or subsidiary’s reporting. Nor does the notice allow a New Zealand-incorporated climate reporting entity to dispense with New Zealand climate reporting, where their parent/holding company reports in Australia inclusive of all entities in a group, and instead file that Australian report on the New Zealand register. We note the XRB has consulted about international alignment and is currently considering next steps.

View the Financial Markets Conduct (Climate-related Disclosures for Overseas Climate Reporting Entities) Exemption Notice 2026

We have also published a Regulatory Impact Statement that discusses the exemption relief and summarises the problem we are seeking to address, our objectives, the options and their associated impacts, and the consultation process we undertook before deciding to grant the exemption.

Download the Regulatory Impact Statement: Exemption for overseas climate reporting entities [696KB]

We have also published a submissions report, which contains a copy of each written submission received (see resulting documents above). We would like to thank all submitters for their feedback.

Download the Submissions report: Exemption for overseas climate reporting entities [8.2MB]

December 2025 

After carefully considering submissions, the FMA has agreed in principle to grant an exemption (with conditions) for five years for climate reporting entities that are incorporated in approved foreign jurisdictions from the climate reporting duties in Part 7A of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013. Initially the notice will specify Australia as an approved jurisdiction, and AASB S2 as an approved standard.  
Further countries and their climate reporting standards can be added to the class exemption notice as their mandatory regimes come into force, and if the FMA is satisfied their regimes are broadly comparable to New Zealand’s CRD regime.  
We may consult with interested stakeholders on the drafting of the exemption notice that will give effect to our decision. If you would like to be added to the list of stakeholders please email your request to us.   
We aim to have a notice in place to give effect to this decision before 30 April 2026.  

September 2025 

We are considering a class exemption for some climate reporting entities incorporated in foreign jurisdictions from the climate reporting duties in Part 7A of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMC Act). This would apply where the foreign entity is required by its home jurisdiction laws to undertake climate reporting comparable to that required by Part 7A of the FMC Act.

If granted, the exemption would allow foreign entities to lodge their home jurisdiction climate or sustainability reports on the New Zealand Climate-related Disclosures Register. The exemption would be subject to conditions, including that the entity must make available information about its reliance on the exemption.

Read the consultation paper and have your say by 24 October 2025. 

Download Consultation: Proposed class exemption for entities incorporated in foreign jurisdictions from New Zealand climate reporting duties [PDF 396KB]