Overseas Investment Bill passed into law

Yesterday, Parliament passed into law the Overseas Investment Bill. A copy of the assent version of the Overseas Investment Act 2005 is available on this site. Amongst other things, the legislation will see the Overseas Investment Commission Secretariat, move out of the Reserve Bank to Land Information New Zealand (LINZ). More information about the legislation is available by reading the Minister of Finance's press statement Greater Protection for Sensitive Sites. The OIC staff will work at LINZ's national office Radio New Zealand House, 155 The Terrace. Once the Bill comes into effect (likely to be on September 1), the Commission will be dissolved. It will be renamed the Overseas Investment Office (OIO), and will be required to increase its monitoring of the consents attached to approvals of foreign investments. The OIO will be located within the Regulatory Group at LINZ, and will report to Warwick Quinn, the Regulatory General Manager.

LINZ is a government department that deals with land related issues. It holds authoritative information about land surveys and ownership, topographic maps and nautical charts. They make sure that the rating valuation system is fair and consistent and oversee the buying and disposal of Crown land. More information about LINZ is available at www.linz.govt.nz.

From 1968 to 1995 LINZ administered the foreign investment controls over land in the Land Settlement and Land Acquisition Act. Hence, the move to LINZ is a more logical fit for the OIC function than having it located within the RBNZ especially as the OIC's core work over recent years has been more and more about land. OIC and LINZ will be working together over the near future to ensure that the changeover will be as smooth as possible.

The OIC will continue processing applications on a "business as usual" basis under the existing framework until such time as the legislation comes into effect which is currently projected to be September 1. Until then, all correspondence, enquiries and other matters regarding the OIC and the Overseas Investment regime should continue to be addressed to the OIC as they are at present. See also the questions and answers relating to the Overseas Investment Act 2005 published on the LINZ main site in June 2005.