New Zealand Legislation: Bills

28 New sections 30E to 30J inserted

• The following sections are inserted after section 30D:

  “30E Conversion of New Zealand units into designated assigned amount units for sale overseas

  • “(1) An account holder may apply to the Registrar to convert a New Zealand unit held by that person into a designated assigned amount unit for the purpose of transferring that assigned amount unit to an account in an overseas registry.

    “(2) An account holder who applies to convert any New Zealand units into designated assigned amount units for the purpose specified in subsection (1) must—

    • “(a) submit the prescribed form to the Registrar specifying the New Zealand units that the account holder wishes to convert; and

    • “(b) submit an application under section 18C for the transfer of an equivalent number of designated assigned amount units (into which the account holder is converting the New Zealand units) from the account holder’s account in the Registry to an account in an overseas registry; and

    • “(c) pay the prescribed fee (if any).

    “(3) Upon receipt of an application under subsection (2)(a) the Registrar must—

    • “(a) transfer the New Zealand units specified in the application from the account holder’s account to the conversion account in accordance with section 21AA; and

    • “(b) transfer to the account holder’s account an equivalent number of designated assigned amount units in accordance with section 21(1); and

    • “(c) register the transaction requested under subsection (2)(b) in accordance with section 21(1).

    “(4) To avoid doubt, if the Registrar receives notification from the international transaction log under section 21(3) that there are discrepancies in the transaction relating to the application submitted under subsection (2)(b), the Registrar—

    • “(a) must not convert the New Zealand units specified in the form submitted under subsection (2)(a); and

    • “(b) must comply with section 21(3); and

    • “(c) must reverse the transfers in subsection (3)(a) and (3)(b).

    “(5) For the purposes of this section, designated assigned amount unit means an assigned amount unit that—

    • “(a) was issued by the Registrar on the basis of New Zealand’s initial assigned amount; and

    • “(b) is held by the Crown in a holding account other than a cancellation, retirement, or surrender account.

  “30F Restrictions on certain New Zealand units allocated to landowners of pre-1990 forest land

  • “(1) This section applies to any New Zealand units referred to in section 69(2)(a)(ii) that are allocated in accordance with an allocation plan made under section 68 that relates to those units.

    “(2) Despite anything in section 18C or 30E, the Registrar may not transfer any class or subclass of New Zealand units to which this section applies to a surrender account or a conversion account until—

    • “(a) 1 January 2013; or

    • “(b) any date after 1 January 2013 specified in the allocation plan made under section 68.

  “30G Regulations relating to Part 2

  • “(1) The Governor-General may, by Order in Council, make regulations for any or all of the following purposes:

    • “(a) procedures and requirements relating to any powers of the Minister of Finance under subpart 1 of this Part:

    • “(b) prescribing matters, including (but not limited to) limitations, restrictions, conditions, exemptions, requirements, or prohibitions, in respect of—

      • “(i) the transfer of units, including (but not limited to)—

        • “(A) the transfer of units from an account holder’s holding account to another account in an overseas registry:

        • “(B) the transfer of units within the unit register:

        • “(C) the transfer of units from an overseas registry:

        • “(D) prohibitions on the transfer of units for the purposes of holding those units in an account in the Registry:

      • “(ii) the opening or closing of holding accounts:

    • “(c) prescribing matters in respect of the holding, surrender, conversion, and cancellation of units, including (but not limited to) limitations, restrictions, conditions, exemptions, requirements, procedures, or thresholds:

    • “(d) carry-over of assigned amount units, certified emission reduction units, and emission reduction units, including (but not limited to) limitations, restrictions, conditions, exemptions, requirements, procedures, or thresholds:

    • “(e) prescribing procedures, requirements, and other matters in respect of the unit register and its operation, including, but not limited to, matters relating to—

      • “(i) access to the unit register:

      • “(ii) the location of the unit register:

      • “(iii) the hours of access to the unit register:

      • “(iv) the format of unique numbers to be used in the unit register:

      • “(v) the allocation of unique serial numbers to New Zealand units and approved overseas units:

      • “(vi) the exchange of data between—

        • “(A) the Registry and overseas registries:

        • “(B) the Registry and the international transactions log:

      • “(vii) the registration of transactions:

      • “(viii) the form and content of the unit register:

    • “(f) prescribing matters in respect of which fees are payable under this Part, the amounts of those fees, and the procedures for payment:

    • “(g) prescribing procedures, requirements, and other matters in respect of the form, use, and manner of obtaining electronic verification statements to confirm a registration:

    • “(h) prescribing procedures, requirements, and other matters in respect of searching the unit register, including, but not limited to,—

      • “(i) the criteria by which a search may be conducted:

      • “(ii) the method of disclosure:

      • “(iii) the form of search results:

      • “(iv) the abbreviations, expansions, or symbols that may be used in search results:

    • “(i) prescribing forms and notices for the purposes of this Part:

    • “(j) prescribing, for the purpose of the definition of overseas registry, overseas registries from which and to which units may be transferred to and from accounts in the Registry:

    • “(k) prescribing the units issued by an overseas registry that may be transferred to accounts in the Registry:

    • “(l) prescribing procedures for transactions involving approved overseas units:

    • “(m) for the purposes of, and subject to, this Part, giving effect to the terms of the Convention and the Protocol, including any decisions, rules, guidelines, principles, measures, methodologies, modalities, procedures, mechanisms, or other matters adopted, agreed on, made, or approved in accordance with the Convention or the Protocol:

    • “(n) providing for the matters that are contemplated by, or necessary for, giving full effect to this Part and for its due administration.

    “(2) Regulations made under subsection (1) may be made in respect of different units, transactions, persons, classes of units, subclasses of units, classes of transactions, or classes of persons.

    “(3) Any regulation made under subsection (1)(b) or (c) does not apply to the transfer of units that are held in an account in the Registry at the time that the regulation comes into force.

    “(4) Any regulations made under subsection (1) must be consistent with the Convention and the Protocol.

  “30H Incorporation by reference in regulations made under section 30G

  • “(1) The following written material may be incorporated by reference in regulations made under section 30G:

    • “(a) decisions, rules, guidelines, principles, measures, methodologies, modalities, procedures, mechanisms, or other matters adopted, agreed on, made, or approved by any international or national organisation in accordance with the Convention or the Protocol; and

    • “(b) any standards, requirements, or recommended practices—

      • “(i) of any international or national organisation that are adopted, agreed on, made, or approved in accordance with the Convention or the Protocol:

      • “(ii) prescribed in any country or jurisdiction that are adopted, agreed on, made, or approved in accordance with the Protocol.

    “(2) Material may be incorporated by reference in regulations—

    • “(a) in whole or in part; and

    • “(b) with modifications, additions, or variations specified in the regulations.

    “(3) Material incorporated by reference in regulations has legal effect as part of the regulations.

    “(4) Sections 150 to 157 apply to material incorporated by reference into regulations under section 30G as though all references to section 148 were references to section 30G and all references to the chief executive were references to the Registrar.

  “30I Signing false declaration with respect to regulations made under section 30G

  • Every person who signs a declaration that is required under regulations made under section 30G, knowing the declaration to be false,—

    • “(a) commits an offence; and

    • “(b) is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $5,000.

  “30J Providing false or misleading information to Registrar

  • “(1) Every person who knowingly provides false or misleading information to the Registrar commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding,—

    • “(a) in the case of an individual, $50,000:

    • “(b) in the case of a body corporate, $200,000.

    “(2) Every person who recklessly provides false or misleading information to the Registrar commits an offence, and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $2,000.”