Economic Resilience

This page provides information on the Economic Resilience priority theme. The Council of Financial Regulators has two focus areas aimed at strengthening our approach to protecting the integrity of transactions and supporting resilience. These areas are i) cyber resilience and ii) financial fraud and scams.

i) Cyber resilience

Why cyber resilience is important

The importance of building cyber resilience has grown over time alongside an increasingly digital economy, and the pace of change has recently accelerated as a result of disruptions brought by COVID-19. The global nature of cyber risk means that disruption can be significant and widespread.

When cyber resilience is appropriately managed, it increases the ability of an entity to continue to carry out its mission by anticipating and adapting to cyber threats and other relevant changes in the environment, and by withstanding, containing, and rapidly recovering from cyber incidents.

Current work

Current work being undertaken by CoFR members in this space falls under the following three headings:

Guidance and advice for regulated entities;
Information gathering and sharing arrangements; and
Enhanced coordination and cooperation in response to cyber incidents, both at domestic and Trans-Tasman levels.

As part of the ongoing work programme and in order to further enhance cross-agency collaboration, CoFR members also regularly share threat intelligence, market updates, and policy developments.

More information

Useful links

ii) Financial Fraud and Scams

Why tackling financial fraud and scams is important

The volume and severity of reported scams in New Zealand has significantly increased in recent years and is causing substantial harm to consumers, as identified in the August 2023 Finance and Expenditure Committee briefing on banks’ processes and consumer protections for scams.

Investment scams cause significant harm to New Zealanders, and undermine confidence in the integrity of the financial system. Financial service providers, financial advisers, and the broader ecosystem including digital platforms and telecoms operators, all have roles to play in preventing, disrupting, and remedying scams, alongside consumers and investors.

Financial regulators, other agencies, and the private sector, must work in a coordinated way to reduce the harm arising from scams.

Current work

Current work being undertaken by CoFR members includes coordinating the development of new partnerships to tackle financial fraud and scams, including with other agencies and the private sector.