‘No action’ relief for climate reporting entities due to be relieved of mandatory reporting

The Government has recently announced changes to the population of climate reporting entities (CREs). Specifically, the reporting threshold for listed issuers will increase: 

• The current threshold is $60 million market capitalisation for equity issuers and $60 million total face value of quoted debt for debt issuers 
  
• The new threshold will be $1 billion for both debt and equity issuers.  

Managed investment scheme (MIS) managers will be removed from the climate reporting regime and will no longer be required to produce annual climate statements.  

When will these changes take effect? 

The Government is working to enact legislation to bring these changes into effect in 2026. These changes will be included as part of the Financial Markets Conduct Amendment Bill. The Finance and Expenditure Select Committee will consider these changes before they report back by 30 January 2026.  

Why do affected entities need ‘no action’ relief? 

We recognise that in the interim, affected CREs may be uncertain about their obligations under Part 7A of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMC Act), particularly those with upcoming lodgements which are likely to fall before legislation is enacted and relief is in place. The FMA has therefore decided to provide interim relief in the form of taking a ‘no action’ approach to the 2025/2026 reporting period for affected entities who are expecting their climate reporting obligations to cease once legislation is passed.

We recognise that these entities will be impacted by the uncertain timeframe in which the amending legislation might be enacted, meaning they do not know whether they will be required to lodge climate statements or not. This approach aligns with the intent of the proposed legislative change following government decisions.

What is a ‘no action’ approach? 

A ‘no action’ approach means that the FMA will not take action against a person for breach of a statutory or regulatory obligation. It is an expression of regulatory intention about how to exercise the FMA’s functions. An FMA ‘no action’ confirmation does not necessarily preclude third parties from taking legal action in relation to the same conduct or conduct of that kind.

Our expectations

For affected CREs with upcoming lodgement dates for the 2025/2026 reporting period, the ‘no action’ approach means that the FMA will not take any action in respect of a failure to prepare or lodge climate statements, or any other obligation under Part 7A of the FMC Act.

This ‘no action’ approach will begin on 1 November 2025. This means that CREs with 30 June 2025 balance dates are still required to lodge their climate statements by 31 October 2025, given their preparations for lodgement will have been well underway when the government decisions were announced on 22 October 2025. 

We do not expect affected entities to apply for this relief or otherwise inform FMA of their reliance on it.

We will continue to monitor the progress of the amending legislation. If changes are not made by the time affected CREs are due to begin preparing statements for the 2026/2027 reporting period, we will revisit this ‘no action’ approach. As reporting obligations will still be in place, affected CREs would need to begin reporting again in the absence of an FMA ‘no action’ in respect of the 2026/2027 reporting period.

Voluntary climate reporting

We recognise that some affected CREs may choose to continue to produce climate statements on a voluntary basis after the amending legislation is enacted and the thresholds for reporting are changed. These entities are reminded that the fair dealing provisions in Part 2 of the FMC Act will continue to apply to representations made in voluntary reporting.