Curran Clare: Financial Markets (Regulators and KiwiSaver) Bill — In Committee 
Curran Clare: Financial Markets (Regulators and KiwiSaver) Bill — In Committee 
[Volume:671;Page:17697] 
CLARE CURRAN (Labour—Dunedin South) 
: 
 I congratulate you Mr Chair on your recent appointment. 
I will address Part 2 of the Financial Markets (Regulators and KiwiSaver) Bill and the amendments proposed by my colleague the Hon Lianne Dalziel. First of all though I say that I was very pleased to hear Minister Simon Power talk earlier about taking responsibility; the importance of the new Financial Markets Authority which replaces the powers of all those agencies that have been mentioned; and the importance of having wider enforcement and surveillance powers. He referred to previous agencies and compared the behaviours that went on with a number of those agencies to a staring competition. Consequently they were not taking responsibility for the obvious gaps and issues that occurred which means we have ended up in a situation where we need to create the new Financial Markets Authority. 
All I could think of while he was saying that was: “Good. Yes I agree with that.” but also I wish that his Government would take its own advice and practise what it preaches. We heard today in the House the Prime Minister attempt to dodge responsibility for the mishandling of the South Canterbury Finance collapse. I put that on the record because it is a clear area where responsibility needs to be taken. I am sure that my colleagues will have more to say about it. 
I also reiterate what my colleagues have said about all the other issues that were raised by my colleague Lianne Dalziel in her amendments. I endorse what my colleague Charles Chauvel said about celebrity endorsements. Something is definitely wrong when a person who is considered an icon in society or a trusted person can front a company’s product and lend them their brand and then have it turn out to be a lie. I consider that to be deception at the highest level. We do not seem to have anything in place that can really truly address that issue. Countless submitters came before the Commerce Committee either on this bill or on the financial collapse inquiry and raised that issue. It is morally wrong and it should be wrong in law. If we want to talk about taking responsibility that is another clear area where we could make some headway. 
I also endorse the comments made by a number of my colleagues around financial literacy. It is a critical issue. It is an endemic issue right throughout our society in terms of the complexity of financial communications and people’s lack of understanding whether they are considering being investors or considering documentation of any kind. 
Financial literacy has been raised again and again. It is a known issue across society at all levels and at all ages. In this digital age the issue certainly needs to be addressed and addressed quickly. It has been raised in the Commerce Committee which I sit on by a number of significant bodies such as the Retirement Commission and the Securities Commission as an area of critical importance. If this Government is to do anything meaningful to underpin the new legislation I certainly think financial literacy is an area that urgently needs to be addressed. As my colleague Lianne Dalziel says with her amendments communication with customers is absolutely critical and a firm must pay due regard to the information needs of its customers and communicate information to them in a way that is clear fair and not misleading. 
Responsible lending as my colleague Carol Beaumont pointed out is another area of critical importance.