New Zealand’s financial services regulatory burden is “perfectly manageable” and arrangements are clearer and less fragmented than in the past, Financial Markets Authority (FMA) CEO Rob Everett says.

“I do hear issues around the number of government agencies operating in the financial services space,” he told a Trans-Tasman Business Circle lunch in Auckland.

“But the Financial Markets Conduct Act and other legislation has significantly clarified who does what and what it is that the FMA has responsibility for and what we don’t.”

The FMA wants to keep regulation transaction costs to a minimum by not being “unrelentingly pedantic”.

“I see our role in offering support and guidance as core, and we’d rather help the industry achieve good outcomes than just parade a belt full of scalps to show how good we are at taking people to court,” Mr Everett said.

But he warns the authority has high expectations of professionals and businesses and will act against misconduct, sloppiness and legal evasion.

The FMA’s responsibilities include overseeing the Financial Advisers Act, which covers insurance brokers and financial planners.