Loans

A candidate loan is a written or spoken agreement under which a lender lends any amount of money to you for your campaign for election.

The loan amount is the money the lender lends under the loan. If a lender agrees to lend money in the future, such as a revolving credit facility, the loan amount is the maximum amount you may owe at any one time.

Money that a registered bank lends you at a commercial interest rate is not a candidate loan. Credit cards and overdraft facilities with registered banks are not candidate loans.

Registered banks are banks registered with the Reserve Bank of New Zealand. Read the full list of registered banks on the Reserve Bank’s website.

Take all reasonable steps to keep records of all the loans you enter into for your campaign. You need to be able to track the total amounts individual lenders lend you and report loan and lendor details for all loans you receive in your return.

You need to keep records of the following details about any candidate loans you enter into:

• the lender’s name and address
• the loan amount
• the date you entered the loan
• the date you need to repay the loan by, or a statement saying there’s no repayment date
• the interest rate or rates
• any guarantor’s name and address
• the details of any security given for the loan.

Also keep a record of whether any loan lets the lender:

• reduce or end the loan amount or interest
• make any concession about repaying the loan.

Find out more about candidate loans in the Candidate Handbook.