New Zealand must encourage a Macquarie-like “maverick” bank to shake up subdued home loan competition in its big four-dominated market rather than lowering hurdles for smaller lenders to grow, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand says.
It represents a major rejection of the New Zealand Commerce Commission’s draft report into the sector, which said the central bank’s capital settings pushed up loan pricing and argued that fewer anti-money laundering rules would benefit competitor banks and fintechs.