On Monday, 5 July 2021, several changes contained within the Overseas Investment Amendment Act 2021 came into force, along with changes to the Overseas Investment Regulations 2005 made by LI 2021/170. Other changes, as a result of the amending legislation, come into force on 24 November 2021 and later.

These changes follow the replacement of the Emergency Notification Regime (ENR) by a more targeted National Security and Public Order notification regime (NSPO) on 7 June 2021.

In both cases, the changes only apply to applications received on or after the date in question (that is, 5 July 2021 and 7 June 2021).
Please note that changes relating to farm land advertising under the amending legislation are likely to come into force in November or December 2021, and the rules that will apply will depend on the date the transaction is entered into, rather than the date of application.

The changes brought about by the amending legislation will:

• remove the need for consent for lower risk transactions;
• better manage higher risk transactions and assets of significance to New Zealanders;
• simplify application requirements for investors.

A table on the Land Information New Zealand website summarises the changes.

The Overseas Investment Act 2005, with all changes consolidated, is available on Westlaw NZ, and along with the consolidated Overseas Investment Regulations 2005.