New Zealand's Financial Markets Authority (FMA) warned banks to take notice of a review conducted by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC), which found that banks failed to properly manage mortgage offset accounts in the two years through August 2025, according to a Friday report by Radio New Zealand (RNZ).
The New Zealand regulator is urging banks with offset mortgage products to examine ASIC's findings and assess whether their own safeguards are strong enough to protect customers from similar harm, said Michael Hewes, director of deposit taking, insurance, advice, and credit at FMA, according to the report.
During the two years through August 2025, banks paid more than AU$55 million in customer compensation for offset account failures, and further compensation is expected as the extent of the problem becomes clearer, the ASIC said Wednesday.
(Market Chatter news is derived from conversations with market professionals globally. This information is believed to be from reliable sources but may include rumor and speculation. Accuracy is not guaranteed.)