Plain language law

New Zealand law explained for everyone

Building Societies Act 1965

Constitution of building societies - Establishment and incorporation of societies

14: Registration of rules of society

You could also call this:

“Rules for starting a building society must be checked and approved”

When you want to start a building society, you need to send some rules to a person called the Registrar. The Registrar might ask another person, called the Solicitor-General, to check if these rules follow the law about building societies.

If the Solicitor-General thinks the rules don’t follow the law, they will tell the society what needs to be fixed.

The Registrar will check if the rules follow the law and if the society has done everything else they need to do. If everything is okay, the Registrar will do two things:

  1. They will register the rules.
  2. They will send the building society a special paper called a certificate of incorporation.

This certificate means the building society is officially recognised and can start working.

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This page was last updated on

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM371385.

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Money and consumer rights > Banking and loans Housing and property > Buying and selling homes Business > Starting a business Business > Industry rules
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13A: Transitional arrangements, or

"Rules for old building societies to follow new laws"

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15: Incorporation of society, or

"A building society becomes a separate legal entity when it's officially registered"

Part 2 Constitution of building societies
Establishment and incorporation of societies

14Registration of rules of society

  1. The Registrar may refer the rules sent to the Registrar under section 13 to the Solicitor-General to ensure they comply with the requirements of this Act relating to rules of building societies.

  2. If the Solicitor-General considers that the rules do not comply with those requirements, he or she may notify the society of the ways in which they do not comply.

  3. If the Registrar is satisfied that the rules comply with those requirements and that the requirements of section 13(2)(a) to (d) are satisfied, the Registrar must—

  4. register the rules; and
    1. send a certificate of incorporation to the building society.

      Notes
      • Section 14: replaced, on , by section 7 of the Building Societies Amendment Act 2007 (2007 No 43).
      • Section 14(3): amended, on , by section 28 of the Regulatory Systems (Economic Development) Amendment Act 2025 (2025 No 11).