Mitchell Mark: Illegal Contracts (Unlawful Limitation on Regulators’ Powers) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume 
Mitchell Mark: Illegal Contracts (Unlawful Limitation on Regulators’ Powers) Amendment Bill — First Reading 
[Sitting date: 25 July 2012. Volume:682;Page:3937. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.] 
MARK MITCHELL (National—Rodney) 
: 
 I am pleased to take a call on the Illegal Contracts (Unlawful Limitation on Regulators’ Powers) Amendment Bill. I would like to acknowledge the Hon Lianne Dalziel and the motivation behind this bill. However the purpose of this bill as drafted has been resolved. It is apparent that the current laws are sufficient to deal with the legitimacy or otherwise of legal settlements meaning there is no need for legislative change. I would like to draw attention to section 4 of the Securities Act and clause 15 of the Financial Markets Conduct Bill. I will go to the Financial Markets Conduct Bill clause 15. I will not read the whole thing but it states: “A provision of an agreement or a deed is void if it provides that a party to the agreement or deed is—(a) required or bound to waive compliance with any requirement of this Act or the regulations; or (b) taken to have notice of any agreement document or matter not specifically referred to in the relevant disclosure document (if any).” Both of these regulations have been drafted to prevent persons seeking to contract out of New Zealand securities legislation which provides additional reassurance. 
It is possible that this bill could be harmful also as it could discourage settlement in civil disputes which could lead to uncertainty cost delay and having to take disputes to court. There is also concern that the bill may cause harm by creating an impression that such contracts were not in any event already illegal. 
Finally I would like to draw attention to some of the great work this Government is doing in restoring confidence in the finance sector. I would need an hour to go into the achievements by the Government in this area but here are just a couple of them: the creation of the Financial Markets Authority which is a one-stop shop that has a sharp and clear focus on enforcing the law; cracking down on loan sharks; and combating anti-competitive behaviour such as price fixing. As part of the Government’s plan for economic growth— 
Sitting suspended from 6 p.m. to 7.30 p.m. 
MARK MITCHELL 
: I have listened closely to the Hon Lianne Dalziel and like I say I commend her and understand the motivation behind the development of the bill. I would like to just come back—I thought I had run out of time but seeing as how I do have the time I would just like to come back—and point out another safeguard through regulation. That is through the Securities Act 1978. I go to section 4(2) which is: “A condition of any agreement requiring or binding an applicant for securities to waive compliance with any requirement of this Act or purporting to affect him or her with notice of any contract document or matter relating to the securities that is not specifically referred to in a prospectus or registered prospectus shall be void.” So this combined with the Financial Markets Conduct Bill provides a good safety net and puts protection in place and comes back to the point that really this bill of the Hon Lianne Dalziel is now redundant. 
I would just like to finish by saying that the Government has already started to put in place a very very good programme to make sure that there is actually confidence put back into our financial markets and our capital markets and confidence is beginning to be restored. I just want to thank you for giving me the chance to speak to this bill. Thank you very much.