16 February 2023
Dear David
Thank you for your request of 24 November 2022 to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand – Te
Pūtea Matua under the Official Information Act 1982 (OIA), as follows:
Can you please provide any advice/information produced or received by RBNZ in the last 3
months on risks to mortgages from OCR increases? This includes
advice/discussion/estimates around the potential strain on mortgages or risks of forfeiture
from OCR increases
Response
Twenty documents were found to be in scope of your request. Thirteen documents are being
released to you in part or in full and are enclosed with this letter. Seven further documents are
being withheld or declined in full, three of which are publicly available on the RBNZ website.
The table below lists the documents in scope of your request, including details of any
withholding or refusal grounds applied under the OIA.
Table 1: Documents in scope of your request
Doc. Document date
Document title
Decision
1
11 November 2022
Paper 4.3 - Financial stability
Withhold in full
update
s 9(2)(d) release would impact
the economic interests of New
Zealand
2
2 September 2022
Appendices 1 and 2 –
Released in full
Background Analysis and
(main paper is out of scope of
Data
the request)
3
12 August 2022
Memo for Financial Stability
Released in part
Committee – Housing and
Out of scope
macro-prudential policy
update
(to Deposit Takers Steering
Group)
4
18 August 2022
Memo for Financial Stability
Released in part
Committee – Housing and
Out of scope
macro-prudential policy
update
5
1 December 2022
RBNZ Report 5981: Reserve
Released in full
Bank Financial System
Roundup
1 Error! No text of specified style in document.
Ref #20115583 v1.8
IN CONFIDENCE
Doc. Document date
Document title
Decision
6
2 November 2022
Latest FSR: Financial Stability
Declined in full
Report for November 2022
s 18(d) publicly available
7
13 September 2022
Memo for Financial Stability
Released in full
Committee – November 2022
FSR bank liaison meetings
8
28 October 2022
Key messages for Nov FSR
Released in full
9
27 September 2022
November 2022 Financial
Released in full
Stability Committee Risk
Assessment
10
2 November 2022
Financial Stability Report -
Declined in full
Snapshots
s 18(d) publicly available
11
12 September 2022
Pre-FSR November 2022
Released in full
meeting – assessment of
financial stability risks
12
19 October 2022
Board Paper 2.3 – Key
Released in part
themes for the November
S 9(2)(g)(i) free and frank
2022 Financial Stability
Report
13
September 2022
Household sector – Pre-FSR
Released in full
team discussion
14
Undated
Chapter 1 – Financial stability Withheld in full
risk and policy assessment
s 9(2)(g)(i), free and frank (draft
document)
Final publicly available (refer
document 6 above)
15
Undated
Chapter 2 – Asset prices,
Withheld in full
households, and businesses
s 9(2)(g)(i), free and frank (draft
document)
Final publicly available (refer
document 6 above)
16
Undated
Chapter 3 – Financial sector
Withheld in full
dynamics and institutional
s 9(2)(g)(i), free and frank (draft
resilience
document)
Final publicly available (refer
document 6 above)
17
31 October 2022
RBNZ Bulletin – 2022 Bank
Declined in full
Solvency Stress Test:
s 18(d) publicly availably
Assessing the resilience of
banks to a stagflation
scenario
18
21 September 2022
Memo for Financial Stability
Released in part
Committee – 2022 Bank
S 9(2)(b)(ii) commercially
Industry Stress Test
sensitive and Out of Scope
IN CONFIDENCE
2
IN CONFIDENCE
Doc. Document date
Document title
Decision
19
3 November 2022
Memo for Financial Stability
Released in full
Committee – 2022 Bank
Industry Stress Testing –
Mortgage Sensitivity
20
19 September 2022
Solvency Stress Test: Round
Released in part
Table – Key themes, initial
s 9(2)(b)(ii), commercially
challenge and outlier
sensitive
identification
The below table details the documents being released to you.
Table 2: Documents released
Doc. Document date
Document title
Decision
2
2 September 2022
Appendices 1 and 2 –
Released in full
Background Analysis and
(main paper is out of scope of
Data
the request)
3
12 August 2022
Memo for Financial Stability
Released in part
Committee – Housing and
s 9(2)(g)(i) free and frank
macro-prudential policy
update
(to Deposit Takers Steering
Group)
4
18 August 2022
Memo for Financial Stability
Released in part
Committee – Housing and
s 9(2)(g)(i) free and frank
macro-prudential policy
update
5
1 December 2022
RBNZ Report 5981: Reserve
Released in full
Bank Financial System
Roundup
7
13 September 2022
Memo for Financial Stability
Released in full
Committee – November 2022
FSR bank liaison meetings
8
28 October 2022
Key messages for Nov FSR
Released in full
9
27 September 2022
November 2022 Financial
Released in full
Stability Committee Risk
Assessment
11
12 September 2022
Pre-FSR November 2022
Released in full
meeting – assessment of
financial stability risks
12
19 October 2022
Board Paper 2.3 – Key
Released in part
themes for the November
S 9(2)(g)(i) free and frank
2022 Financial Stability
Report
13
September 2022
Household sector – Pre-FSR
Released in full
team discussion
IN CONFIDENCE
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IN CONFIDENCE
Doc. Document date
Document title
Decision
18
21 September 2022
Memo for Financial Stability
Released in part
Committee – 2022 Bank
s 9(2)(b)(ii) commercially
Industry Stress Test
sensitive and out of scope
19
3 November 2022
Memo for Financial Stability
Released in full
Committee – 2022 Bank
Industry Stress Testing –
Mortgage Sensitivity
20
19 September 2022
Solvency Stress Test: Round
Released in part
Table – Key themes, initial
s 9(2)(b)(ii), commercially
challenge and outlier
sensitive
identification
As you will note, some withheld is being withheld under the following sections of the OIA:
9(2)(b)(ii) – to protect information where the making available of the information
would be likely unreasonably to prejudice the commercial position of the person who
supplied or who is subject of the information
9(2)(g)(i) – to maintain the effective conduct of public affairs through the free and
frank expression of opinions by or between Ministers of the Crown or members of an
organisation or officers and employees of any public service agency or organisation
in the course of their duty
In terms of section 9(1) of the OIA, we are satisfied that the withholding of the information is
not outweighed by other considerations that render it desirable to make the information
available in the public interest.
Publicly available information
Three documents in scope of your request are being declined under section 18(d) of the OIA,
as they are publicly available. For your convenience, I have listed those documents in the table
below and provided a link to their web location.
Table 3: Publicly available documents
Doc.
Document title
Website address
6
2 November 2022 Latest FSR: Financial
Financial Stability Report for November
Stability Report for
2022 - Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Te
November 2022
Pūtea Matua (rbnz.govt.nz)
10
2 November 2022 Financial Stability Report -
Financial Stability Report for November
Snapshots
2022 - Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Te
Pūtea Matua (rbnz.govt.nz)
17
31 October 2022
RBNZ Bulletin – 2022
2022 Bank Solvency Stress Test: Assessing
Bank Solvency Stress Test:
the resilience of banks to a stagflation
Assessing the resilience of
scenario - Reserve Bank of New Zealand -
banks to a stagflation
Te Pūtea Matua (rbnz.govt.nz)
scenario
IN CONFIDENCE
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IN CONFIDENCE
You have the right to seek an investigation and review of this response by the Ombudsman,
in accordance with section 28(3) of the OIA. The relevant details can be found on the
Ombudsman’s website at
www.ombudsman.parliament.nz.
Please note that we may publish a copy of this response on the RBNZ website at
www.rbnz.govt.nz/research-and-publications/official-information-requests. Responses to OIA
requests are published in order to improve public transparency and provide an additional
resource for anyone seeking information.
Yours sincerely
Government and Industry Relations
Reserve Bank of New Zealand - Te Pūtea Matua
IN CONFIDENCE
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