Source: Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te Pūtea Matua
Updates on Deposit Takers Act implementation, the Depositor Compensation Scheme and more
Issue 12 September 2026
A periodic newsletter to keep deposit takers updated on bringing the Deposit Takers Act 2023 into effect, the Depositor Compensation Scheme, and other relevant updates from across the Reserve Bank – Te Pūtea Matua.
Deposit Takers Act
Near-final tranche 1 standards and relicensing questions
On Monday, 14 September we published:
- near-final DTA standards for Liquidity, the Depositor Compensation Scheme, Lending, and Incorporation outside New Zealand, with accompanying near-final guidance
- the near-final questions that existing banks and non-bank deposit takers will need to answer if they are applying for a DTA licence, along with initial guidance.
Review the publications on our website
Register for an October webinar and submit questions now
In October we will host the next webinars in our transition planning series for existing banks and non-bank deposit takers.
Agenda
We will start with quick updates on standards and guidance , the upcoming capital risk weight changes consultation , and DTA transition supervision activities in the coming months.
Then we’ll move to the main topic, licensing. Our Licensing and Authorisations team will provide an overview of the relicensing questions and guidance released on 14 September and answer your questions. Your input will help us identify areas where expanding the guidance could be helpful.
As the regulator, we will avoid answering questions about specific entities or circumstances and aim to provide information that’s useful to anyone completing a relicensing application.
Submit questions until 2 October
Submitting your questions before the webinar will help our experts have the right information at hand and make the event more useful.
Email questions to DTA@rbnz.govt.nz until Friday, 2 October . Questions may be themed and we will not identify the submitters.
Check that you’re attending the right webinar
Each webinar is tailored to a different deposit taker group. Some entities have registered for a webinar that’s not targeted at their group, and there are a few registrations where the connection to an existing registered bank or licensed non-bank deposit taker is unclear.
Please check that you’ve registered for the right webinar. If you’re not an existing deposit taker regulated by the Reserve Bank, please email DTA@rbnz.govt.nz to let us know which regulated deposit taker you represent. If we are unclear, we will contact you to confirm this detail, as the webinars are for existing deposit takers and advisors they’ve identified.
Go to our DTA events page to find out more and register
Regulatory perimeter to remain unchanged under the DTA
In late 2025, we consulted on proposed regulations for the DTA regulatory perimeter and other matters to support the smooth implementation of the DTA. The regulatory perimeter defines which entities need to be licensed and supervised under the DTA. We proposed keeping the current regulatory perimeter when the DTA takes effect.
Feedback on the proposed regulations was largely supportive, so we recommended them to the Minister of Finance without changes. Cabinet has approved the proposals, which have now moved to legislative drafting.
On 23 September we published the consultation submissions and our response on the Citizen Space consultation page.
Go to the Citizen Space consultation page
Read the Cabinet Paper and Regulatory Impact Statement
New DTA landing page and information on our website
Thank you to those who completed our website survey. On 14 September we launched a new DTA landing page and other changes, including:
- A latest updates section at the top of the page, so you can see what’s new.
- A visual timeline for the coming year . You’ll recognise this from the August transition events for deposit takers.
- A new DTA standards and guidance page . Find near-final standards and guidance, the full list of standards under development, standards applicable to each deposit taker group, and information on our standards consultation process.
- A new DTA licensing page . Find licensing information and the near-final relicensing questions and guidance for existing deposit takers.
- An updated events page to make it easier to register for upcoming events and find materials from past events.
- An NBDT transition page where we’ll add updates and resources for non-bank deposit takers transitioning to the DTA.
Explore the new landing page and content
DTA consultations now closed
Thank you to everyone who provided feedback on the following DTA consultations, which closed on 11 September. We received almost 40 submissions, which our policy teams are reviewing.
- DTA standards exposure drafts (tranche 3)
- DTA crisis preparedness package
Depositor Compensation Scheme
DCS levy payments due 18 October 2026
We issued DCS levy invoices on Thursday, 3 September through our secure file transfer service, BOX. Payment is due on 18 October. Please email DCS@rbnz.govt.nz with any questions.
Capital Review implementation and consultation on further risk weight changes
The implementation of some key changes from last year’s Capital Review is now complete. You will have seen the updated Banking Prudential Requirements (BPR), and banks have received updated conditions of registration. We have also written to non-bank deposit takers and updated their conditions of licence.
Go to the BPR documents
Updated Disclosure Statements Order in Council and reporting templates
We have updated our website with a working copy of the Registered Bank Disclosure Statements Order 2026, which was recently amended to make the disclosures consistent with the BPR changes to standardised risk weights. The new format in the latest working copy should be used for disclosures relating to periods after 1 October 2026.
Disclosure requirements for registered banks are set by Orders in Council (OICs) made under Section 81 of the Banking (Prudential Supervision) Act 1989. OICs are secondary legislation used to implement government decisions.
The Capital Satellite and NBDT reporting templates are also being updated to reflect new risk weights. We’ll send these templates to existing deposit takers in the next few weeks, to help you prepare, and publish them on our website towards the end of this year. Changes will also be reflected on the Bank Financial Strength Dashboard from March 2027.
Read about disclosure requirements and the updated OIC
Go to the Bank Financial Strength Dashboard
Capital risk weight changes consultation
We also plan to consult later this year on the following topics relating to standardised credit risk weights:
- commercial property
- credit conversion factors
- infrastructure
- personal lending
- reverse residential mortgages
- securitisation.
We’ll provide an update on this at the October webinars.
Other RBNZ consultations
- Prudential levy consultation (closing 16 October)
- Modernising New Zealand’s retail payment system (closing 27 October)
Official source: https://www.rbnz.govt.nz/hub/publications/deposit-takers-news/2026/issue-12-september-2026