Record profits during the COVID crisis and low customer ratings make this the ideal time for financial services firms to concentrate on integrity and reputation. TINZ’s FISA Online Self Assessment provides the mechanism for doing it.

With two of our biggest banks found to be lacking, the time is now for the FISA Online Self-Assessment to be rolled out. It is time to deepen the national discussion of what financial integrity means to all New Zealanders.

The Financial Markets Authority makes it clear that insurance companies need to improve their conduct and culture. By completing Transparency International New Zealand's Financial Integrity System Assessment (FISA) Self-assessment, financial services firms will enhance their conduct, culture and integrity, positively impacting their customers, profits and sustainability.

With unfavorable reviews and the COVID-19 crisis to look back on, it is time for the New Zealand financial services industry to assess their integrity.

In October 2020, Transparency International EU published a report finding that of the 39 biggest banks in Europe, 31 declared profits in low or zero-tax jurisdictions. Of these, 29 banks had no people working in the country where large portions of their profits were declared.

The New Zealand Defence Force (NZDF) was found to have "manifestly inadequate" administration and institutional accountability systems for gathering, recording, preserving, investigating and providing information. This directly impacted on the quality of information provided by NZDF to successive Ministers of Defence, and through them to Parliament.