With regulatory expectations rising across New Zealand, businesses face growing pressure to demonstrate proactive compliance. In this environment maintaining an obligations register is fast becoming a best-practice tool for governance, risk management and regulatory engagement - especially in highly regulated sectors.

We discuss the growing importance of obligations registers as a strategic compliance tool for New Zealand businesses, outlining relevant legal requirements, sector-specific expectations, and how our firm's tailored advice service helps companies proactively manage their regulatory responsibilities.

Who benefits from an obligations register?

While the Companies Act 1993 does not explicitly require companies to have and maintain an “obligations register”, directors are legally obligated to exercise care, diligence, and skill in their actions. This implies a need for systems that help identify, understand, and meet legal obligations - especially in sectors where non-compliance carries significant risk, including:

• Financial services: where providers must meet detailed licensing, reporting and audit obligations; 
• Regulated industries: including food, healthcare, energy, and transport, where compliance with safety and operational standards is critical;
• Listed companies: which are subject to NZX Listing Rules requiring continuous disclosure, governance reporting and prompt notification of material events - making a centralised obligations register critical for compliance; and
• Foreign investors: which must comply with conditions imposed by the Overseas Investment Office, including reporting, governance and operational commitments tied to consent approvals.

In practice, regulators, directors and investors increasingly expect companies to maintain a clear and auditable record of their legal obligations and compliance efforts - especially where non-compliance could result in enforcement action, commercial losses or reputational harm.

MinterEllisonRuddWatts’ Obligations Register service

Our firm has a tailored, cloud-based Obligations Register service that helps businesses simplify compliance and stay ahead of regulatory change. We translate complex legal requirements into clear, actionable obligations  –  customised to your business.

The service’s key features include:

• plain-English summaries of relevant legal obligations;

• monthly register updates generated using smart automation and expert legal review; 

• integration with your compliance systems or direct Airtable access; and

• ongoing legal and technical support from our regulatory, commercial and systems specialists.

Whether you are scaling operations, preparing for a regulatory review, or simply aiming to strengthen governance, our Obligations Register service helps ensure you're always one step ahead.

Questions?

If your business is navigating complex regulatory terrain or preparing for increased scrutiny, we would welcome the opportunity to discuss how our Obligations Register service can support your compliance strategy. Please get in touch with one of our key contacts below or your usually MinterEllisonRuddWatts connection. 

This article was co-authored by Danielle Cooper, a Solicitor in our Corporate and Commercial team.