NEW ZEALAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Briar Shaw, Julia MacGibbon, Kate Hatwell, Tina Liu, Jessica Phillips and Natalie Foster, Tompkins Wake
Introduction New Zealand enters 2026 in a stage of legal and regulatory transformation. After years of economic turbulence driven by post-pandemic cost pressures, strained global supply chains and rapidly rising inter - est rates, business conditions are beginning to stabi - lise. At the same time, a wave of legislative reform is reshaping the environment for both domestic opera - tors and international investors, touching everything from the rules governing foreign capital to the fun - damentals of employment relationships, competitive markets and commercial property. This article identifies five areas of significant change that anyone doing business in New Zealand needs to understand. Opening the Door Wider: Reforming the Overseas Investment and Investor Immigration Regimes New Zealand’s government has moved on multiple fronts simultaneously to attract international capital. Two distinct but complementary reform streams are now in place: a change to the overseas investment consenting regime, and a suite of new immigration pathways designed to bring high net worth individu - als and experienced business operators into the New Zealand economy. The Overseas Investment Act reform Since the 1970s, acquiring a business or significant asset in New Zealand as an overseas person has required navigating a complex and often protracted consent process. The government has recently made further amendments to the Overseas Investment Act 2005, with the reforms in force from 6 March 2026. The reforms mark a significant step in its “Going for Growth” strategy to attract international capital and stimulate economic development. The changes to the Act aim to streamline New Zea - land’s overseas investment framework by simplifying the approval process for lower-risk investments, while maintaining strong protections for the more sensitive assets (ie, farmland and residential land). The cen - trepiece of the reform is the replacement of multiple existing approval tests with a single, consolidated national interest test. Previously, overseas investors had to demonstrate that their investment would pro -
vide a net benefit to New Zealand. The question (for most investments) is now more focused: does the investment pose a risk to New Zealand’s national interest? The new national interest test introduces a structured, three-stage process. • Stage 1: the Overseas Investment Office (OIO) considers whether the transaction may pose a risk to New Zealand’s national interest, and there - fore whether a full national interest assessment is required. If no concerns are identified, consent can be granted. This stage must be completed within 15 working days. • Stage 2: if concerns arise, the OIO undertakes a full national interest assessment, considering national security, public order and whether risks can be managed under other regulatory regimes. The OIO cannot decline consent at this stage. • Stage 3: if the OIO considers that there are signifi - cant risks, the assessment is escalated to the Min - ister for Finance, who ultimately decides whether to decline consent if the investment is deemed contrary to New Zealand’s national interest, or to grant consent if the risk can be managed through conditions or other means. To accompany the changes, the government has issued a new directive to the OIO to keep compliance obligations “no broader than necessary”, to concen - trate resources on genuinely higher risk transactions and to use existing domestic regulation to control risk rather than imposing conditions, wherever possible. With the reforms now in force, investors approach - ing the New Zealand market will have a much more streamlined process available to them when engaging with the overseas investment regime. Most applica - tions for consent will be processed under the new national interest assessment pathway, but invest - ments in residential land and farmland will still be subject to the previous tests (ie, proving a benefit to New Zealand). The Active Investor Plus Visa: attracting high net worth investors Running alongside the OIA reforms is a revamped immigration pathway for significant investors. On 1
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