Mike Staal Appointed to the Code Committee

21st Jul 2009

The 10-member Code Committee was revealed this morning with the list dominated by non-practitioner individuals.
While the code list included some names familiar to financial advisers, most appeared to be from the legal and managerial side of the finance industry.

In a statement, Annabel Cotton, Commissioner for Financial Advisers, applauded the Code Committee, saying it was a "multi-skilled committee [that] brings together a wealth of local and overseas knowledge and experience in the financial sector, covering law, governance, banking, insurance, stock broking, funds management, commerce, education and consumer advocacy."

The Committee is due to meet at the end of July to appoint a chair before drafting a code of conduct for authorised financial advisers.

"The code will commit the adviser industry to do business in a professional and ethical manner," Cotton said.

"It will also determine the qualifications and level of experience they need to be authorised advisers."

The three-year appointments to the Code Committee members are:

Sue Brown - DLA Phillips Fox partner and Public Trust general counsel corporate;

Pip Dunphy - Independent director whose current positions include - chair, Mint Asset Management; director, NZ Post,
Crown Health Financing Agency, Accident Compensation Corporation; council member, AUT and monetary policy adviser to the governor of the Reserve Bank;

Shane Edmond - manager of retail broking, Forsyth Barr, Christchurch;

Liz Koh - director of Wellington-based financial planning firm Moneymax;

Patrick Middleton - head of Westpac wealth management;

David Russell - former head of the Consumers' Institute and currently consumer affairs consultant and director on various boards;

Michael Staal - joint managing director of New Zealand Financial Planning.
The committee also includes three individuals appointed for a one-year term:

Ross Butler - former chair of the Institute of Financial Advisers (IFA) who now holds several director positions;

David Ireland - Kensington Swan partner and Association of Superannuation Funds of New Zealand (ASFONZ) chair;

Gary Young - Insurance Brokers Association of New Zealand (IBANZ) chief.