Salt is a lawyer with an MBA and worked 10 years with the British Bankers’ Association (BBA).
"Many of the things they’re (the NZMBA) grappling with, I’ve done in London," Salt says, particularly as regards to issues such as "soft" regulation and self-regulation.
One of her tasks with the BBA was re-writing the Banking Code in 1997, giving it a customer focus and turning it into plain English. Lobbying government and regulatory players was also part of her brief as the BBA’s director of retail banking. Before reaching that position, she had been involved in drawing up a guide for mortgage lenders.
Even before going to London, Salt had gained some familiarity with the regulatory side of life, having worked for the Department of Trade and Industry and the Commerce Commission, but had also gained some experience in the private sector working for accountancy firm KPMG.
"The new territory will be getting to know the players in the industry and them getting to know me," Salt says.
Salt, the mother of two children, a boy aged 12 and a girl aged 9, has been back in New Zealand three years and has been lecturing on commerce and finance at Unitech for the last three years.
She obviously doesn’t regard her education as complete: Salt is currently doing post-graduate study through the University of Melbourne on global business law.
Salt says she came across the advertisement for her new position "by accident" but was struck by how much the New Zealand industry’s requirements matched her own skills and experience.
Given that mortgage brokers account for about 60% of mortgages written in Britain compared with between 25% and 30% here, it might be thought New Zealand is at an earlier stage of development. Salt says she will be trying to keep an open mind until she knows more about the industry here.
