A once-in-a-generation overhaul of capital markets regulation has been sometimes painful and the Financial Markets Authority has copped "pushback" from the industry, says its chief executive, Rob Everett.
"Frankly if it wasn't painful we wouldn't be getting it right," Everett said of the implementation of the Financial Markets Conduct Act which came fully into force 10 months ago.
Changes have included a licensing regime for financial service providers such as fund managers. It has also introduced new forms of capital raising, such as equity crowdfunding, and paved the way for the NZX's NXT market for small, fast-growing firms.
Everett said some of the pushback had followed information requests around KiwiSaver sales practices and insurance industry "churn".
"It [the new regulation] hasn't been universally popular but I think we've tried really hard to engage with the industry to find where we can do things better and also explain to them why we want that information.
"We're at a rough equilibrium. It's a lot of work we're imposing on the industry, but if we don't do that the whole licensing framework becomes pointless, in my opinion."
The FMA's annual report, released yesterday, shows enforcement activities in the year to June 30 resulted in $51 million in investor compensation.
A further $1.7 million was paid in fines and penalties.
The FMA reported a $2.5 million loss for the year from total revenue of $30.2 million, which included a $26.2 million government grant.
Total spending rose to $32.7 million from $29.4 million in the previous year.
Personnel costs for the year were $1.1 million over budget at $20.8 million - a blowout the regulator blamed on additional contract staff required for implementing the Financial Markets Conduct Act.
Everett earned a pay package in the range of $530,001 to $540,000, according to the report.
The report's release follows a difficult few weeks for the regulator. Last month the Herald revealed that former FMA analyst Benjamin Anthony Kiro had been charged with forging an impressive academic record to get his job and then stealing nearly $210,000 in a Ponzi-type scheme.
Kiro worked for the FMA from September 2014 until January this year.
Everett said he was "gutted" when he learned of the allegations facing Kiro.
"We are conducting a review of our arrangements with all our recruitment agencies and our own processes to make sure it doesn't happen again," he said.
"I remain very confident about the the quality of the people we've got and I think that's important."
In another setback, a High Court judge last month ruled that the FMA had breached Vivier & Co's rights to natural justice when it failed to supply the financial services firm with detailed evidence regarding the regulator's decision to remove the company from the Financial Services Providers Register (FSPR).
The FMA removed the company because it didn't believe it was operating in this country.
Vivier, which is directed by Luigi Wewege - one of the central players in the Len Brown infidelity scandal - successfully argued that the FMA only began its investigation after a member of the public passed on an online news article, which linked the firm to sub-prime mortgages in Ireland, and questioned whether that reflected badly on the reputation of New Zealand's financial regulation.
According to the annual report, 28 firms were removed from the FSPR in the year to June. Everett said the Vivier experience highlighted the challenges facing the FMA's push to clean up the register through removing companies that falsely claim to be operating in this country.
He said legislative changes may be required to "make it clearer who can register and who can't".
"For entities that are not within the regulatory remit, and are only dealing with people outside New Zealand, I would query why they're on the register - that just doesn't make sense to me."
