Briefs: Westpac joins Home Guarantee panel, new Helia group counsel, RBNZ ramps up crypto monitoring

Westpac and its subsidiary Rams have joined the Home Guarantee Scheme lending panel. They join 32 other lenders, including Commonwealth Bank and NAB, participating in the scheme, which provides a government guarantee to first home buyers and single parents who have deposits of as little as 2 per cent. The scheme will offer 50,000 places this financial year.
Brady Weissel has been appointed general counsel and company secretary at Helia Group. Weissel has worked at Helia for nine years and was most recently senior corporate counsel. Before working at Helia he was a lawyer at Ashurst. He replaces Prudence Milne, who is retiring.
The RBNZ is ramping up its monitoring of stablecoins and cryptoassets after public submissions reinforced its view that there are “significant risks and opportunities from stablecoins and other private money innovations, but also significant uncertainties about how the sector will develop and where the optimal balance will lie.” Ian Woolford, the RBNZ Director of Money and Cash, said: “We agree with the balance of submitters that a regulatory approach isn’t needed right now, but increased vigilance is.”