17 December 2024

Financial Markets Conduct (Conduct of Financial Institutions – Resolution Life New Zealand Limited) Exemption Notice 2024

Name of Notice Financial Markets Conduct (Conduct of Financial Institutions – Resolution Life New Zealand Limited) Exemption Notice 2024
Gazette Notification Date 2024-12-17
Date In Force 2025-03-31
LI Number N/A
SL Number N/A
Act Financial Markets Conduct
Type Individual Exemption
Expiry Date 2030-03-30

The Financial Markets Conduct (Conduct of Financial Institutions — Resolution Life New Zealand Limited) Exemption Notice 2024 (Notice) exempts Resolution Life New Zealand Limited (RLNZL) from the requirements under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (as amended by the Financial Markets (Conduct of Financial Institutions) Amendment Act 2022) (the Act) to:

  1. be licensed as a financial institution; and
  2. establish, implement, maintain, and comply with an effective fair conduct programme.

The Notice comes into force on 31 March 2025. 

The exemptions are subject to conditions including to the effect that:

  1. it only applies to a relevant service provided in relation to the group life policy issued to its subsidiary, Resolution Life Services NZ Limited (RSL) for the benefit of employees of RSL (group life policy) and is essentially a ‘free’ employment benefit that provides a modest fixed amount of life insurance cover.
  2. RLNZL must notify the FMA if any changes are made to the terms or eligibility requirements of the group life policy; and
  3. RLNZL gives the employees information about its reliance on the exemption and this means fewer consumer protections apply, and a brief description of its claims and complaints processes including how a claim or a complaint can be made.

The key reasons for granting the exemption (as set out in full in the Statement of Reasons in the Notice) are that –

  • RLNZL is subject to subpart 6A of Part 6 of the Act only in respect of a single group life insurance policy for employees of a subsidiary.  In such circumstance the costs of becoming licensed and complying with fair conduct programme obligations under that subpart are likely to outweigh the benefits for consumers (being the employees of RSL);  
  • the conditions require RLNZL to notify the FMA if any changes are made to the terms or eligibility conditions of the group life policy, enabling FMA to monitor that the nature of the policy remains unchanged;
  • the conditions also require RLNZL to inform employees of RSL that it is relying on the exemption and that the usual fairness protections will not apply, and give them details of its claims and complaints processes, ensuring that employees are informed;
  • as such, the FMA is satisfied that the exemptions are necessary and desirable to avoid unnecessary compliance costs.  Given their limited application in that it applies to a single group life policy entered into with a subsidiary for the benefit of employees of the subsidiary the FMA is satisfied that the exemptions are not broader than reasonably necessary.

Download Financial Markets Conduct (Conduct of Financial Institutions – Resolution Life New Zealand Limited) Exemption Notice 2024 [PDF 356KB]