The suspended chief executive of the Financial Markets Authority will appear before the Employment Relations Authority next month, seeking to be reinstated in her role.
Authority chief executive Samantha Barrass – who had already announced plans to depart – went on leave last month after the authority's board became aware of "cultural concerns" at the country's financial markets regulator.
Days later, the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment announced it had started an investigation into workplace conduct and culture at the authority.
Lawyer Stephen Langton, who is acting for Barrass, said she considered her suspension to be unjustified and was seeking an urgent determination from the Employment Relations Authority to overturn her suspension and be reinstated to her role at the authority.
"Ms Barrass looks forward to the opportunity to set out her position publicly at an Employment Relations Authority hearing in the very near future."
A hearing date has been set for mid-September.
Last week, it was announced that the Financial Markets Authority board had commissioned an independent employment investigation "concerning matters relating to" Barrass, with Paul Wicks KC to lead the investigation.
The investigation was separate from the conduct and culture review being undertaken by the ministry.
The authority declined to comment on Barrass' move to seek reinstatement in her role.
In July, the New Zealand Shareholders' Association said it was aware of "systemic cultural issues" at the Financial Markets Authority, and believed leadership departures and allegations of poor workplace culture had knocked confidence in the agency.
Prior to joining the authority in 2022, Barrass had numerous regulatory and executive roles in the United Kingdom, and was also the head of the financial regulator in Gibraltar until 2019.
SHARE ME