Former Reserve Bank governor and ex-National Party leader Don Brash is keeping mum on speculation he has been lined up for the New Zealand board of the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC).
ICBC has applied to the Reserve Bank of New Zealand for banking registration.
Asked whether it was correct that he would be a director should the application be successful, Brash said: "I’m afraid I can’t comment on this at this stage."
Brash was a director of ANZ National Bank between June 2007 and April 2011. He was Reserve Bank governor between 1988 and 2002.
The name ICBC New Zealand Limited was registered with the Companies Office in March this year. Its sole director is listed as Jun Jing.
It emerged in January that the Chinese government controlled ICBC had applied to the Reserve Bank for banking registration. The Reserve Bank doesn't comment on bank registration applications, merely releasing a brief statement if it grants a licence.
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1 Comments
The Reserve Bank doesn't comment on bank registration applications, merely releasing a brief statement if it grants a licence.
Isn't it past time the RBNZ reacted to the outrage that is Rabobank:
Rabobank of the Netherlands has agreed to pay about $US1 billion to settle US, British and Dutch charges of manipulating a key global interest rate. The bank's chairman resigned as it became the fifth financial firm sanctioned in the international rate-rigging scandal.
The amount Rabobank is paying includes $325 million in an agreement with the US Justice Department that allows the bank to avoid criminal prosecution in exchange for its continued cooperation in the investigation of major banks' conduct regarding LIBOR.
The authorities said that Rabobank, one of the world's largest banks, engaged in rigging of the London interbank offered rate, or LIBOR, from 2005 to 2011. Read more
How can RaboDirect depositors be sure the culture that is Rabobank is serving their best interests?
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