Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013

Enforcement, liability, and appeals - Civil liability - Interrelationship of civil liability orders

506: Only 1 pecuniary penalty may be imposed for same conduct

You could also call this:

"You only pay one penalty for doing something wrong, even if you break multiple rules."

Illustration for Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013

If you do something wrong, it can break more than one rule. You can be taken to court for breaking any of these rules. You will not have to pay more than one penalty for the same wrong action.

When you break a rule, you might have to pay a penalty, which is money you pay as a punishment. This penalty is called a pecuniary penalty. It is a penalty that you pay because you broke a rule in a law.

There is another part of the law, section 446N, that can affect this rule. This means that in some cases, the rule that you only pay one penalty might not apply. You should look at section 446N to understand when this might happen.

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This page was last updated on 15 July 2025

View the original legislation for this page at https://legislation.govt.nz/act/public/1986/0120/latest/link.aspx?id=DLM4091731.

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505: More than 1 civil liability order may be made for same conduct, or

"The court can give you more than one penalty for doing the same wrong thing."

507: No pecuniary penalty and fine for same conduct, or

"You can't be fined and penalised twice for the same mistake"

Part 8Enforcement, liability, and appeals
Civil liability: Interrelationship of civil liability orders

506Only 1 pecuniary penalty may be imposed for same conduct

This section applies if conduct by a person constitutes a contravention, or the involvement in the contravention, of—
2 or more civil liability provisions; or
1 or more civil liability provisions and 1 or more other pecuniary penalty provisions.

Proceedings may be brought against that person for the contravention, or involvement in the contravention, of any 1 or more of the provisions, but no person is liable to more than 1 pecuniary penalty for the same conduct.
In this section, a pecuniary penalty provision is a provision of another Act the contravention of which may give rise to civil liability to a pecuniary penalty.
Subsection (2) is subject to section 446N.

Notes

Section 506: replaced, on 31 March 2025, by section 19 of the Financial Markets (Conduct of Institutions) Amendment Act 2022 (2022 No 36).