Tizard Judith: New Zealand Guardian Trust Company Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
Tizard Judith: New Zealand Guardian Trust Company Amendment Bill — Second Reading 
[Volume:626;Page:21159] 
Hon JUDITH TIZARD (Labour—Auckland Central) 
: 
 I move  
That the New Zealand Guardian Trust Company Amendment Bill be now read a second time 
. This is a private bill promoted by the New Zealand Guardian Trust Co. Ltd. which I am happy to promote on its behalf as the MP for Auckland Central. This bill amends the New Zealand Guardian Trust Company Act 1982 which currently allows Guardian Trust to transact business with its former parent company Royal and Sun Alliance Insurance Group plc or any subsidiary or company associated with that parent company. The purposes of this bill are to expressly authorise Guardian Trust to transact business with its present parent company Promina Group Ltd and the parent company’s subsidiaries and associated companies whether or not they are overseas companies. The purposes are also to validate any business transacted with Guardian Trust’s various parent companies or with subsidiaries or associated companies of those parent companies whether or not they are overseas companies on or between the commencement of the principal Act and the commencement of this legislation and to ensure that the principal Act accurately reflects the current ownership structure of Guardian Trust. 
This bill was introduced on 7 October 2004 had its first reading on 20 October that year and was then referred to the Commerce Committee. The committee received and considered five submissions from interested groups and individuals and received advice on the bill from the Ministry of Justice. The Commerce Committee which I thank for its work has recommended that the bill be passed by majority with only minor technical amendments. The committee has reported also that the statements in the preamble have been proven to its satisfaction. The committee spent some time considering a proposal suggested by Guardian Trust that the bill be amended to enable the company to seek an Order in Council made by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Minister of Justice after consultation with the Minister of Commerce to approve any future change in ownership. 
This is not the first time Guardian Trust and other trust companies have sought such an amendment. Under Guardian Trust’s proposal if the company were to provide sufficient information to demonstrate to the Minister of Justice that the systems and procedures placed beneficiaries’ best interests before its own commercial advantage then the Minister could decide—after consultation as I said with the Minister of Commerce—that it would be appropriate to authorise Guardian Trust to trade with a new parent company. The name of that parent company if and when it changed could then be amended in the schedule of the Act by Order in Council made by the Governor-General. The Order in Council would be subject to review by the Regulations Review Committee and decisions made in relation to it could of course be judicially reviewed. The acceptance of that proposal would have meant that Parliament no longer needed to take the time to consider any future changes in this private Act. 
Ultimately the majority of the committee whilst feeling that the proposal had merit believed that the ability of a trust company to transact business with its parent company should be controlled by Parliament. The majority were unwilling also to support the proposal until the Government has completed a thorough review of the regime for statutory companies in respect of the naming of current parent companies in trustee legislation. The committee noted that such a review had been recommended by several committees before it that in 2001 the Minister of Justice had informed a previous Commerce Committee that such a review would be undertaken by the Ministry of Justice and completed by mid-2003 and that the review is therefore now long overdue. I will continue to urge that the work be carried out though I recognise that it is not necessarily the highest priority for the Ministry of Justice. 
I again thank the Commerce Committee for the work it has done on this bill. I commend this bill to the House for its second reading.