We operate in a highly regulated financial environment. There are many laws and regulations that we have to comply with in order to protect our customers and do business in New Zealand and around the world. We’re committed to protecting ourselves and you as our customer by meeting our legal and regulatory requirements in regards to financial crime.

Foreign tax compliance

The law commonly known as FATCA, or the Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, sets out requirements which BNZ must follow. FATCA is a United States (US) tax law designed to reduce tax evasion by US taxpayers through the use of overseas financial accounts. It impacts major banks and financial institutions around the world and took effect in New Zealand on 1 July 2014.

We’re registered with the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for FATCA, and BNZ’s Global Intermediary Identification Number (GIIN) is X3M0TN.00001.ME.554.

What FATCA means for you

FATCA requires New Zealand banks and financial institutions to identify and report certain information in relation to individual customers who are US citizens or tax residents and entity customers that are organised in the US or controlled by US citizens or tax residents. Therefore, we will be asking you for relevant information when you first open an account with us, or we may contact you at a later stage, if we think you could be affected.

Under FATCA, we are required to report personal and account information on individual customers who are US citizens or tax residents, entity customers that are organised in the US or controlled by US citizens or tax residents, ‘non-participating financial institutions’ (which are financial institutions that are not compliant with FATCA), and certain other customers for whom we’ve been unable to determine a FATCA status. The information is reported annually to New Zealand Inland Revenue (unless certain minimum account thresholds apply), which sends it on to the US IRS.

If you don’t provide information about your FATCA status, you may have some of your accounts/products deactivated or closed. See below how you can update your FATCA status.

We take the privacy of your personal information seriously, and we’ll always try to contact you to confirm your reportable status if we think you might be affected by FATCA.

For more information about FATCA and how it might affect you, refer to the: 

Updating your FATCA status

Depending on your tax residency status, you’ll have a specific form to fill in to update your FATCA status, which you’ll then need to return to BNZ’s dedicated Global Tax Compliance team by:

Individuals

  • Whether you’re a US person or non-US person for tax purposes, please fill out the Individual tax residency self-certification PDF 98kb 
  • US persons also have the option of providing your US Tax Identification Number online. You can do this in Internet Banking or the BNZ app: go to Settings > Your Details > Tax residency > Update tax residency information.

Entities

You’ll need to complete the Entity tax residency self-certification PDF 132KB, even if your entity has no association with the USA.

Non-US Passive Non-Financial Entities (NFE)

If any of your controlling persons meet the definition of a US person, you must complete the Controlling person tax residency self-certification PDF 132KB

Common Reporting Standard (CRS)

As part of global measures to counter tax evasion, all NZ banks and financial institutions are now required to collect information about customers’ foreign tax residency and pass that and other personal and account information onto Inland Revenue, which may then be exchanged with overseas tax authorities.

Generally called the Common Reporting Standard, it has been initiated by the Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development (OECD) under the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) regime to achieve the exchange of certain information between participating countries. Currently over 100 countries have agreed to implement the standard, including New Zealand.

Patriot Act Certification

If you’re a financial institution that requires a Patriot Act Certification for BNZ, please use the Patriot Act Certificate available from our parent company, the National Australia Bank (NAB) Group.

Code of Banking Practice

We abide by the Code of Banking Practice, ‘the Code’, which sets out the principles of good banking practice. The Code is set by the member banks of the New Zealand Bankers Association (NZBA), in consultation with the public, other industry participants, and the Banking Ombudsman. We agree to follow the Code as a minimum standard in our relationship with you. 

We agree to:

  • treat you fairly and reasonably
  • communicate with you clearly and effectively
  • respect your privacy and confidentiality and keep our banking systems secure
  • act responsibly if we offer or provide you with credit
  • deal effectively with your concerns and complaints.

Refer to the Code of Banking Practice for more information.

Anti-Bribery and Corruption

We take a zero-tolerance approach to bribery and corruption. We are fully committed to the prevention of financial crime and promote a culture of compliance with law, honesty, and the highest ethical standards in our activities.

Read a summary of our Anti-Bribery and Corruption Policy

Model Litigant Principles

As a model litigant, we recognise our responsibility to act honestly and fairly in the handling of claims and litigation. We’ve adopted a set of Model Litigant Principles that require us to:

  • consider alternative ways to resolve litigation (for example, through agreed resolution)
  • seek to resolve matters promptly and efficiently
  • act honestly, consistently, and fairly in the handling of claims 
  • keep the costs of litigation to a minimum.

The Principles apply to any civil litigation conducted by or involving us, and aren’t limited to particular customer segments.

Whistleblower Programme

The Protected Disclosures (Protection of Whistleblowers) Act 2022 provides protection for people who report serious wrongdoing. The Whistleblower Programme is a safe and confidential channel to report concerns about wrongdoing. You can report wrongdoing under the programme if you’re a:

  • current or former employee of BNZ
  • current or former officer or associate (for example, a director or secretary of BNZ)
  • current or former supplier (whether paid or unpaid)
  • employee of a supplier, contractor, subcontractor, or volunteer
  • relative, dependent or spouse of one of the above.

To make a report, email whistleblower@bnz.co.nz.

Read more about the Group Whistleblower Protection Policy at www.nab.com.au

Sanctions Policy and compliance

We check transactions facilitated by us for sanctions compliance. We follow sanctions laws from New Zealand as well as those from relevant overseas sanctions authorities.

More about our Sanctions Policy.