What does the future hold for our capital markets?

The New Zealand financial markets regulator (FMA) and the New Zealand Stock Exchange (NZX) have announced that they will be undertaking a review of our Capital markets, called Capital Markets 2029. The review is ambitious and is designed to deliver a 10-year growth agenda and vision for the sector.

The term capital markets refers to the debt and equity markets that businesses and other entities use to raise either equity or debt capital. Capital markets play a critical role in the successful functioning of any economy. It is via this platform that companies are able to raise the funds that they require to grow and individuals are given the opportunity to invest their savings and generate a return. Many studies have highlighted the linkages between strong capital markets and long term GDP growth and prosperity. It is because of the importance of this infrastructure that governments and regulators are continu-
ally reviewing how their domestic markets function and the opportunities that exist for improvement. We are about to embark on the next iteration of this in New Zealand and its timing couldn’t be better …