Other Entities

Statutory Crown Entities

Statutory Crown entities are generally established by the Crown to deliver many of the public services of importance to New Zealanders. They are wholly Crown-owned non-company entities with boards, and have been given greater operational freedom than government departments on the principle that services will be more efficiently produced if the entity has discretion within a framework. Each statutory Crown entity usually has its own establishing legislation and falls into one of the five categories of Crown entities subject to the Crown Entities Act 2004 (Legislation website). The entity’s establishing legislation contains entity specific objectives. These objectives can contain a mix of social, cultural, public policy and commercial statements. A statutory Crown entity’s establishing legislation can expressly modify or negate provisions of the Crown Entities Act 2004.

There are three types of statutory Crown entities: Crown agents (Agents), autonomous Crown entities (ACEs) and independent Crown entities (ICEs). Each type of entity is subject to different provisions of the Crown Entities Act, depending on how close they are to the government.  For example, Agents must give effect to government policy, ACEs must have regard to government policy, but ICEs are not required to give effect to or have regard to government policy. ICE board members are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Responsible Minister, while the Responsible Minister appoints board members for Agents and ACEs (excluding the board members who are elected). The removal of board members differs depending on the type of entity, how the person was appointed and who the appointer was.

Statutory Crown entities have non-commercial functions but some, like those monitored by the Crown Ownership Monitoring Unit (COMU), have commercial imperatives: New Zealand Superannuation Fund, the Government Superannuation Fund Authority, the Earthquake Commission, the investments of the Accident Compensation Corporation, the Public Trust and the New Zealand Lotteries Commission. Excluding the Public Trust and the New Zealand Lotteries Commission, the other four entities are known as Crown Financial Institutions.

Amongst other things, statutory Crown entities are required to produce an annual Statement of Intent and an Annual Report, both of which are presented to the House of Representatives. Further information and guidance for Crown entities is located at Crown Entities (State Services Commission website).

Other Statutory Boards

There are numerous other boards established by legislation that do not fall into the above categories. These boards are sui-generis. COMU monitors only one of these types of boards, the National Provident Fund. The National Provident Fund is established by the National Provident Fund Restructuring Act 1990. For the purposes of COMU’s monitoring, the National Provident Fund is also known as a Crown Financial Institution.

The Shareholding Ministers' expectations for the boards of the non-SOE/CRI entities monitored by COMU were outlined in the Owner's Expectations 2008 Letters and the Entity Matrix.