[The Wrap] What the heck is happening at the FMA?
[OPINION] It would be fair to say the Financial Markets Authority is a bit of a mess at the moment – well at the top level.
Friday, July 31st 2026, 2:35PM
The Chairman’s gone and now the Chief Executive, Samantha Barrass has been put on leave around “cultural concerns” within the organisation. (Will she back before her term finishes in January? Wouldn’t bet on it).
There is no doubt there are good people at the regulator trying to do the right thing, but having this much turmoil can't be helping.
For a long time now we have been hearing stories about the culture inside the organisation. Other media, notably NBR, have been exposing this for nearly two years now.
I’ve never met Barrass, which is rather odd considering the excellent relationship we had with her predecessor. (In some ways that may well be instructive to the culture?)
One question that I’ve pondered is whether it is time that the leadership of the organisation goes to a New Zealander?
The three chief executives the FMA has had, have all been imports (while Barrass was born in New Zealand her professional life has largely been offshore). It would be fair to say Barrass came with some baggage.
One was a protracted Employment Tribunal dispute against her former employer, the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission (GFSC) which was settled out of court.
There were other flags including a high profile defamation case and a controversy over conflicts of interest when she took on a paid, non-executive role on the board of PwC UK's Public Interest Body.
The Stobo situation is interesting on many fronts. One is he was allegedly appointed to take a more hands on role with the regulator and address some of the issues which were already apparent.
Secondly, when one reads the KC report which led to his demise, he didn't really want it and turned it down at first. He failed to complete a mandatory credit check and the minister at the timne did not follow it up.
To a degree there has been a ministerial failure in not addressing issues at the FMA. But considering we have had three Ministers of Commerce in this current government, maybe it is not a surprise the minister has not addressed issues.
A key role of the FMA is to give New Zealanders confidence in the country’s financial system. This is a significant task as the FMA takes on more responsibility and the sector is going through significant change.
How on earth can it fulfil this statutory role when it has been in such a mess?
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