Financial Institutions

The CoFI Act creates a new market service of “acting as a financial institution." We refer to this market service as the “financial institution service”. The licence for this new market service is known as a “financial institution licence”.

Topics covered in this section

Financial institution licensing

Any registered bank, licensed insurer, or licensed non-bank deposit taker in the business of providing one or more relevant services will need to hold a financial institution licence to operate, if that service is received by a consumer in New Zealand.

Licensing FAQs

Our team has fielded a number of questions from various financial insititutions about licensing. Please take a moment to read through the licensing FAQs ahead of applying for your licence.

Fair Conduct Programme

A fair conduct programme (FCP) means policies, processes, systems and controls that are designed to ensure the financial institution’s compliance with the fair conduct principle. A financial institution’s FCP must be in writing and must meet the minimum requirements set out in the CoFI Act.

Fair conduct programmes - information for smaller firms

This information sheet provides information and examples to help smaller Financial Institutions (FIs) establish, implement and maintain their fair conduct programme. It complements our other resources relating to FI licensing. It will be useful for smaller firms holding or applying for a licence to act as an FI under the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.

Financial institution regulatory returns

Regulatory returns are due annually by 30 September for the 12-month period from 1 July to 30 June. The first return period will commence 1 July 2025.

Question or concern about CoFI?

Please get in touch. We're happy to help.

Useful links

Upcoming events and announcements

30 Apr 2025 Wed 9:27pm

LFG Mortgage Professional Development Day

Link Financial Group Mortgage Professional Development Day: FMA monitoring visits.

01 May 2025

LFG Mortgage Professional Development Day

Thu 9:00am

08 May 2025

Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Summit 2025

Thu 11:05am

See details →

22 May 2025

Chartered Accountants ANZ: Audit and Accounting Conferences

Thu 12:00pm

See details →

Latest

Research

29 Apr 2025

Consumer Confidence Factsheet 2025

A nationwide Consumer Confidence Survey was commissioned by the FMA in 2024, with the aim of gaining a better understanding of New Zealanders’ exper ...

Research

29 Apr 2025

Key takeaways from the CrowdStrike event survey

In October 2024, the FMA conducted a survey to see how well financial service providers were prepared for and responded to the CrowdStrike incident.

Reports and papers

04 Apr 2025

Fair conduct programme insights report

Insights from the FMA’s review of fair conduct programmes received from financial institutions ahead of the commencement of the CoFI regime

Media releases

31 Mar 2025

CoFI regime now in effect 

The Conduct of Financial Institutions (CoFI) regime comes into full effect today, with the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) expecting banks, insurers ...

Speeches & presentations

04 Feb 2025

Speech by Samantha Barrass to the Financial Services Council Outlook 2025

Samantha Barrass, Chief Executive FMA speaks at the Financial Services Council Outlook 2025.

Media releases

23 Dec 2024

Westpac admits to misleading representations that resulted in $6.35m in overcharges

Westpac New Zealand Limited has admitted to misleading customers entitled to advertised discounts as well as overcharging some of its business custome ...

Featured

Financial institution licensing guide

This guide explains how to make an application for a licence, and the criteria you will need tomeet to obtain a licence.

Standard conditions for financial institution licences

All financial institutions and their authorised bodies need to comply with standard conditions to obtain and maintain their licence.

Fair Conduct Programme

This document provides useful information to assist financial institutions in the preparation of a Fair Conduct Programme (FCP).