New Zealand financial markets have been dogged for 25 years by Securities Commission Chairman, Colin Patterson’s throw-away line to the Wall Street Journal, characterising his patch as a “Wild West”. He was campaigning for nominee disclosure and new takeover rules.

In fact our laws were at least as effective as those in most of the world, and far more intrusive than in countries like Switzerland. They were not as prescriptive as Australia.

So the Reserve Bank’s tart response to the NZX attempt to panic politicians and curry media favour for its new products was well deserved, and should not have been necessary.