A few words about the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR)
- Under New Zealand law (the Financial Service Providers (Registration and Dispute Resolution) Act 2008), all individuals or entities wanting to provide financial services from a place of business in New Zealand must register on the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR) and meet the application requirements.
- Being registered does not necessarily mean the registered entity is licensed or regulated or otherwise actively supervised or monitored by New Zealand regulators. It does not necessarily mean that they comply with New Zealand Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism Act 2009 requirements.
- The Financial Service Providers Register does provide the ability for consumers to check that their current or intended financial service provider is registered, but some of the information on the Register may not accurately reflect the individual services an entity provides as that is largely updated by providers themselves.
- Financial service providers who are applying for membership of the scheme must first make application for registration at the FSPR.
- A financial service provider may be deregistered from the FSPR if the Registrar considers it is no longer eligible or if the financial service provider elects to deregister (for example is no longer providing a financial service). Consumers should check the status of a financial service provider at the FSPR website.
Important note - Registering on the FSPR is simply an administrative process and it does not mean a company is regulated or licensed either in NZ or any geography.
Financial Dispute Resolution Service can terminate membership for a member’s failure to abide by an adjudicator’s decision. It cannot offer any protection regarding insolvency of a member or for matters outside jurisdiction. For example, if it was determined that a scheme member did not provide a financial service from a place of business in New Zealand.