The FMA has today released its Strategic Risk Outlook, an update of a document first produced in 2014.

“In some ways not a lot of changed [since then] but in others, everything has changed,” said FMA chief executive Rob Everett.

The FMA was now operating with the Financial Markets Conduct Act in full force, and the Financial Advisers Act rewrite was looming.

The market was also changing as international factors, such as Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, played out.

Everett said the FMA's mandate and powers were markedly different to those of its predecessor, the Securities Commission. 

"Generally the industry views that as a good thing," he said. "As long as it happens to someone else."

Everett said he expected a busy year, with more finance company fallout to work through and the Warminger judgment to come. There are also still problems of abuse of the Financial Service Providers Register.

The SRO notes that mis-selling of financial products, and sales and advice, are key priorities for the regulator.

Everett said it was likely there would be more cases brought before the Financial Advisers Disciplinary Committee, the body that deals with breaches of the AFA code of conduct.

Since its inception only six advisers have been to the FADC, the most recent in 2014.

FMA director of regulation Liam Mason said, over the medium-term, advisers would see a step up in regulation. He said it was likely the number of advisers under the FMA's jurisdiction would increase many times under the new version of the FAA.

“We had a period last year when the focus was on licensing under the FMC ... and had a little less monitoring activity [on advisers] than has historically been the case but we do see that picking up," he said.

That would be partly off the back of the FMA's new focus on conduct, and also through its work on insurance churn and KiwiSaver practises.

Two more cases that were last year signalled as being due to appear before the FADC were still in progress, he said.

Mason noted that when the FAA was revised, it should create a level playing field for advisers. At present, the FMA must take non-AFA advisers to court over any breaches, which the FMA noted was an extra hurdle.

Everett noted that financial advice had a key role to play when it came to tackling information asymmetry between consumers and product providers - a risk mentioned in the report. Mason said KiwiSaver had greatly expanded the investor population to the point where people who had never invested before were doing so. "Previous notions of what a prudent investor might think have been shaken up."

Other key themes in the SRO include the emergence of rapid technological innovation.

Everett rejected the idea of a "sandbox" to encourage robo and fintech innovation. He said he hoped the FMA was developing, or had developed, an innovative culture with a willingness to facilitate and encourage new business models, so that such an initiative was unnecessary. "Part of our job as a regulator is to get out of the way when we can."

The SRO also notes issues around the "regulatory perimeter".

Mason said it was likely that as the FMA tried to redraw its perimeter, those providers committed to working outside it would reposition their businesses. But he said the FMA owed it to compliant businesses to try to tackle those who dodged its remit.

The FMA said increased funding from July would give it more opportunity to plan ahead and the updated SRO was the first step of the next planning cycle.

Other issues identified were retail investor participation in complex and risky products and helping investor decision-making in changing market conditions.