Bill protecting company directors' addresses to be introduced

MP says there's 'no practical justification' for directors' addresses to be publicly listed

BY Dexter Tilo 09 Jan 2024

A new bill that seeks to give company directors a choice over publicly disclosing their residential address is set to be introduced to the New Zealand Parliament.

ACT MP Laura Trask said she plans on introducing the Companies (Non-publication of Directors' Residential Addresses) Amendment Bill to the private members' ballot.

"The intention of this bill is to give directors of companies the choice if they want to make their residential address publicly available on the companies register," the bill's explanatory note said.

Privacy, safety concerns for directors

In New Zealand, the Companies Act 1993 states that full names and residential addresses of company directors, among other records, must be kept available for inspection. These records are also kept available to the public in the country's Companies Register.

But the requirement has raised privacy and safety concerns for company directors. The annual sentiment survey from the Institute of Directors New Zealand revealed that having their home addresses being made publicly available was the top personal concern of directors in the country.

"There is no practical justification for the current requirement that company directors have a residential address publicly listed. The rule creates obvious risks of harassment, and in my view and in ACT's, it's a simple breach of privacy," Trask said in a statement.

"As a former company director myself, it was always scary to think that a customer or contractor with a grievance would be able to track me down at home, at any time of the day or night."

The ACT MP also cited a report from The Post about a director in Auckland who felt "forced to break the law" to avoid having her residential address listed when she was being persecuted by a man with a history of violence against her.