Navigating uncertainty and adapting business planning will be essential for business success in 2022. The presence of COVID-19 and its variants is an obvious risk, however increased regulatory intervention, climate change pressures, class actions and swift legislative change creates greater turbulence for some of New Zealand’s key sectors.

In this forecast we consider:

• the changing role of regulators and their strengthened approach to enforcement action;
• if the Office of the Privacy Commissioner will move from education to enforcement;
• increasing compliance and insurance risks for directors and managers, and how to mitigate these;
• rising cyber threats and attacks on organisations and their impact on obtaining cyber insurance;
• the inevitability of criminal prosecution for cartel conduct; and
• what business can expect working with Covid in the year ahead.

You will also find a helpful planning checklist for directors and senior managers to assist in understanding and preparing organisations against inherent risk.