Financial Markets Conduct (Climate Statements – Spark Finance Limited) Exemption Notice 2024

The Financial Markets Conduct (Climate Statements – Spark Finance Limited) Exemption Notice 2024 (Notice) exempts Spark Finance Limited (SFL) from its climate-related disclosure obligations under Part 7A of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (Act).  

SFL operates as an intra-group funding vehicle for Spark New Zealand (SNZL) and its subsidiaries (together, the Spark Group). SFL on-lends the funds it raises to SNZL and other members of the Spark Group, and SNZL guarantees the debt obligations of SFL. 

Both SFL and SNZL are climate reporting entities under section 461P(1) of the Act. SNZL will be preparing group climate statements in relation to the Spark Group (including SFL) under section 461ZA of the Act.

The Notice is subject to a number of conditions including requiring alternative reporting (ie the group climate statements), disclosure, and the principal purpose of SFL (being the treasury function on behalf of the Spark Group) remaining the same.

The key reasons for granting the exemption (as set out in full in the Statement of Reasons in the Notice) are that –

• SFL’s principal purpose is to carry out the treasury function on behalf of the Spark Group, meaning that an investment in SFL is effectively an investment in the Spark Group. The group climate statements of SNZL will therefore provide more meaningful disclosure than stand-alone SFL statements; 
• SFL’s primary users would need to look to SNZL’s group climate statements to obtain a full picture of the climate-related matters relating to their investments. Having additional, stand-alone climate statements of SFL would therefore be confusing, unhelpful and artificial in these circumstances.

Download the Financial Markets Conduct (Climate Statements – Spark Finance Limited) Exemption Notice 2024 [PDF] 311KB