Regulator adds two senior leaders after handing over consumer credit oversight
New Zealand's Commerce Commission has made two senior appointments to its executive leadership team, three months after it handed responsibility for consumer credit law to the Financial Markets Authority (FMA).
The regulator announced on LinkedIn that it has hired Reuben Irvine (pictured left) as chief economist and general manager, economics, and Matt Kenny (pictured right) as general manager, corporate services.
"These appointments further strengthen our leadership team as we continue our focus on enhancing competition and improving choice and value for all New Zealanders," the commission said.
Irvine returns from across the Tasman
Irvine will rejoin the commission in January to lead its economics function. He spent almost 11 years there between 2014 and 2025, rising from senior economist to principal economist in the competition and consumer branch, before managing fuel regulation in the market regulation branch.
He left in 2025 to become principal economist in the Competition & Consumer Economic Unit at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC).
The commission said his career spans 27 years in enforcement, regulatory, consulting, and public policy roles across New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, and Denmark. These include three years as an economist at Ireland's competition authority and eight years as a consulting economist at Covec.
Kenny brings finance and technology experience
Kenny joins from Whānau Āwhina Plunket, where he was general manager, finance, technology and commercial. He helped lead a financial turnaround there, moving the organisation from recurring deficits and $14 million of debt to breakeven results, eliminating the debt and lifting equity from $31 million to $45 million.
His earlier roles include chief financial officer at Callaghan Innovation, where he helped establish the operating function for the government's R&D Tax Incentive alongside Inland Revenue, and at Evolution Healthcare.
Why the appointments matter for advisers
For advisers, the commission's role has changed. Since 1 July, the FMA has been responsible for the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act (CCCFA), which governs responsible lending, including home loans. The commission's credit team moved across to the FMA with the transfer, and CCCFA matters should now go to the FMA.
The commission's final CCCFA actions included settlements with ASB, TSB, and Nelson Building Society, which admitted breaching responsible lending requirements. At the time, the commission said its focus would turn to complex, economy-wide competition challenges, which fall within Irvine's area of expertise.
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