La réglementation des activités bancaires transfrontalières : la politique de la Nouvelle-Zélande en matière d'externalisation dans les banques

Abstract

Regulating cross-border banking activity : New Zealand’s policy on outsourcing by banks This article discusses the Reserve Bank of New Zealand’s outsourcing policy for banks. Banks in New Zealand are increasingly outsourcing a substantial range of their business activities, both to independent and to related-party service providers, and both within New Zealand and across borders. Cross-border outsourcing is of particular relevance to New Zealand banking regulation, as the New Zealand banking system is dominated by banks owned by offshore parent banks that, to varying degrees, provide services to their banking subsidiaries. The article explains the motivation for the outsourcing policy in terms of the Reserve Bank’s prudential objectives, which include minimising the damage that could occur to the financial system in the event that a bank becomes distressed or fails. The outsourcing policy requires a large bank’s board to ensure that it maintains legal and practical control over outsourced functions sufficient to achieve a set of outcomes related to continued liquidity provision to the financial system. The policy is outcomes-focused and emphasises board and senior management responsibility for delivery. With its fairly narrow focus on a defined set of outcomes, the policy seeks to ensure that the Reserve Bank’s ability to manage crisis is not compromised, while making available to the financial system the benefits of association with foreign banks. JEL classification : G28, K23