An investigation by Deloitte’s forensic unit found that a Mediaworks journalist passed on the RBNZ’s decision to cut the OCR to several people in the Mediaworks Newshub office.
The information was sent from the media lockup for the March monetary policy statement and OCR announcement, which was contrary to the rules of the lockup.
The information was then passed on again to economics blogger Michael Reddell, who alerted the RBNZ after the official release.
RBNZ Governor Graeme Wheeler said the leak was a serious and disappointing breach of many years of trust.
“It created the opportunity for improper gain on financial markets and damage to the integrity of the Bank’s communications. I am extremely disappointed that the information was leaked initially and then communicated more widely.
“The fact that several people outside the Bank, who had access to the information improperly, failed to alert the Bank immediately, was irresponsible and left open a significant risk that the Bank could have closed down quickly with an immediate official release.”
There is no evidence that the leak gave rise to any financial market impact.
As a result, the RBNZ will no longer have embargoed lock-ups for news media and analysts ahead of announcements on interest rate decisions, monetary policy statements and financial stability reports.
This means that the media and analysts will now receive the information at the same time as other financial market and public audiences.
