Late last year, the Reserve Bank of New Zealand (REINZ) announced plans to increase tier one capital requirements for all systematically important banks to 16% of risk weighted assets, up from 13.5%.
New Zealand’s big four Australian-owned banks were, therefore, placed directly in the REINZ’s cross-hairs given they comprise nearly 90% of the nation’s banking assets.
On Wednesday, the RBNZ ordered Westpac NZ to lift its holding of liquid assets after being in breach of liquidity requirements for eight years.
