Briefs: RBNZ talks through LVR timetable, tackles climate change and mortgage bond standards, RACV s 14 November 2018 5:39PM Banking Day staff Briefs, Finance regulation, IT systems, Mortgages, Payments, mobile & wallets, Professional services Reserve Bank of New Zealand deputy governor Geoff Bascand told a Sydney audience yesterday the Bank is evaluating whether to further ease LVR restrictions and will update the market in its upcoming financial stability report (FSR) on November 28. "The question we are assessing is whether the same restrictions are needed in the current environment where debt levels remain high but are not deteriorating, now that bank lending standards have tightened significantly and rapid growth in credit and house prices have stabilised. If these conditions continue, we expect to gradually ease the policy in coming years," Bascand said in his speech to the UBS Australasia Conference. New Zealand banks and insurers will need to be ready to present their plans for handling climate change risks to the banking regulator. The RBNZ is progressing work on its climate change strategy and is planning discussions with the financial institutions, deputy governor Geoff Bascand said in his Sydney speech yesterday. The RBNZ also yesterday released its proposals for a new mortgage bond standard, following consultation and discussions with issuers and investors over the past year. Consultation on the proposals closes on 22 February 2019. Insurer RACV has blamed a "system error" after customers were charged repeatedly, draining bank accounts and maxing out credit cards, reports itnews. Bank executives that spoke to itnews suggested the likely cause was a batching error that would be reversed out, but questioned RACV's failure to detect and quarantine the repeated transactions.