Law firm opposes warrantless without-notice FMA inspections

Proposed new powers for the Financial Markets Authority (FMA), including for without-notice warrantless on-site inspections, should be scrapped because there’s no evidence such powers are needed, according to law firm DLA Piper.

“If a court cannot be persuaded to grant a warrant, a raid should not be conducted,” the law firm says in a submission to parliament’s finance and expenditure committee which is considering the Financial Markets Conduct Amendment Bill.

The law firm describes warrantless on-site inspections as effectively “a raid” on private property and says allowing such actions would remove a fundamental constitutional control on the exercise of executive power.

“There should be compelling and exceptional policy reasons if this fundamental constitutional control is to be done away with,” but no such compelling and exceptional reasons exist, DLA Piper says.