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

The Government has recently announced that life and health insurers will be removed from the climate related disclosures (CRD) regime and will no longer be required to produce annual climate statements. This is in addition to its previous announcement in October 2025 that managed investment scheme managers and smaller listed issuers will be removed from the CRD regime. 

When will these changes take effect? 

These changes are intended to be included as part of the Financial Markets Conduct Amendment Bill.  

Why do affected entities need ‘no action’ relief? 

We recognise that in the interim, life and health insurers 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 life and health insurers 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 life and health insurers 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 19 June 2026. This means that CREs with 31 March 2026 balance dates onwards are not required to lodge climate statements. Entities with prior balance dates will have already lodged their climate statements and so they are not caught by this no action approach. 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.