Williams Andrew: Financial Markets Conduct Bill Financial Markets (Repeals and Amendments) Bill — Third ReadingsText is incorporated into the Bound VolumeWilliams Andrew: Financial Markets Conduct Bill Financial Markets (Repeals and Amendments) Bill — Third Readings[Sitting date: 27 August 2013. Volume:693;Page:13009. Text is incorporated into the Bound Volume.]ANDREW WILLIAMS (NZ First): I take a call on behalf of New Zealand First in the third reading of the Financial Markets Conduct Bill and related legislation. Can I firstly start by saying that it is a great disappointment this evening that we have not heard one single apology from the Government for taking 5 years to get to this point. It has not apologised to the 250000 New Zealand investors who lost their money many of whom lost their life-savings through the shonky markets the shonky financial institutions and the shonky governance that was in place in this country under this National Government for the last 5 years. Not one of the National members has stood up and made any form of apology to the many many hard-working people around New Zealand who have lost a great deal of money. They must be asking why it has taken so long for it to get to this point while other legislation under this Government has been rammed through with urgency.We have seen legislation for the likes of charter schools for the sale of State assets for the Government Communications Security Bureau spy bill for ripping the Local Government Act apart and for the Resource Management Act again being ripped apart. All sorts of other good legislation in this country has been pulled apart ripped apart and decimated while this legislation which had full support across the House from most parties apart from the Green Party to properly overhaul the financial markets in this country and turn a cowboy situation into a proper 21st century financial situation with our financial markets has been left by the Government to wallow for 5 years. This legislation was brought in by a Labour Government with the support of New Zealand First back in 2007-08. This was brought before this Parliament a long long time ago and it has taken 5 years to finally get to these third readings. And now we are doing it under what we call urgency. Well is it not just absolutely ironic that it has taken 5 years and now under urgency this Government wants to put it through this evening?New Zealand First is supporting this legislation because as we have always said good policy that is for the benefit of New Zealanders for the benefit of the New Zealand economy and for the good of all New Zealanders is what New Zealand First is all about and we thoroughly support this. We support the fact that it will ensure that fund managers and supervisors of schemes such as KiwiSaver will have tighter controls and regulations. And with so many people now investing in the likes of KiwiSaver it is increasingly important that the likes of this legislation is in place to ensure that the controls are there.We like the fact that directors and those who might be found to be wanting in this area and who may not wish to maintain the laws of this country could if they are found to be at fault be subject to up to $1 million in fines as individuals or $5 million as companies. Again it sends a strong message to many of these past perpetrators that this sort of activity and this way of acting in our financial markets will not be tolerated. It aims to strike a better balance between issuers and investors and the improvements in the controls and regulations will give greater confidence to our capital markets. It is most important at this time that our capital markets have greater confidence. Around theworld there is some level of uncertainty in many countries. In New Zealand we have been very fortunate because we are such a strong agricultural-based economy—we are a very strong export economy based on our rural agricultural history—and we have been sitting under the shadow of the Australian economy which has been very strong through this whole period. It is very fortunate that our big brother across the Tasman has weathered the global financial crisis in a reasonably sound manner and New Zealand has benefited as a result from that. It is very fortunate that we are in a position where we certainly have not come out at the end of the global financial crisis in a much worse state.But the 250000 New Zealand investors who lost a lot of money must still be wondering how it all happened—how it occurred that the likes of South Canterbury Finance ended up $1.6 billion in the red owing so much money and how it was that over a period of the last 6 months of that institution it was allowed to continue taking deposits and continue taking money off innocent investors while our authorities our Reserve Bank and our Treasury were completely blind to the whole situation and while the Government itself was also not aware of what was going on. More innocent investment money was lost as a result of people simply taking their eye off the ball and allowing these sorts of shonky cowboy financial activities to continue in New Zealand.The Financial Markets Conduct Bill is a weighty document. It is hundreds and hundreds of pages. I do commend all those who have been involved in putting it together. It has been a very good exercise in how it has been constructed. I congratulate the former Minister of Commerce Lianne Dalziel on doing this. I wish her well in her mayoral campaign in Christchurch and I do thank her for what she did in terms of getting this bill under way under the Labour Government. I also congratulate the current Minister of Commerce Craig Foss who is a recent Minister and who has seen fit to keep it moving and get this through.Once again I would repeat that this is the sort of thing where this Parliament does let itself down. There should be no excuse and this Government has no excuse for allowing this particular legislation to take 5 years to get to this point. We have known for years now that there were some significant problems in our financial markets and that we had in excess of 60 companies go belly up in the financial industry. As a result that should have been setting off huge alarm bells a long long time ago to get this legislation pushed through far sooner than the likes of charter schools State-owned assets and spying on New Zealanders. Thank you.