Published on 21 Aug 2025

Balancing Investment and Security: Review of Overseas Investment Office Standing Committee

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The Overseas Investment Office sought a review of their newly established Inter-Agency Standing Committee process. This committee assesses whether overseas investments serve New Zealand's national interests, identifies risks, and where risks exist, determines mitigation measures. 

While successfully established during COVID-19 lockdowns, the process required refinement for long-term sustainability. The regulatory landscape was changing, and agencies faced resource constraints while managing this critical function. 

Allen + Clarke's review transformed an emergency process into a streamlined, consensus-driven framework that balanced multiple agency perspectives while protecting national interests. Our practical recommendations improved information sharing, meeting effective and agency engagement across the entire workflow. 

The Office began implementing our recommendations immediately, with positive feedback from Committee members. Our practical relationship-focused approach ensured recommendations were both impactful and implementable within existing resource constraints.

Combining analysis with strategic engagement

Our evaluation expertise and experience with multi-agency governance allowed us to quickly understand the Committee's operations and identify improvement opportunities. Our independence and relationship-building approach proved valuable in capturing honest feedback from diverse stakeholders. 

We combined thorough document analysis with targeted stakeholder engagement. 

  • Website Generic Icons 1200x1200 GREEN 31 Process mapping - we analysed meeting minutes, workflows and quantitative data to understand the Committee's operations and identify bottlenecks.
  • Website Generic Icons 1200x1200 GREEN 31 Stakeholder interviews - we conducted confidential discussions with all core agencies and selected secondary agencies to capture diverse perspectives.
  • Website Generic Icons 1200x1200 GREEN 31 Multi-level analysis - we examined both strategic and operational aspects, from high-level governance to detailed information flows between agencies.
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Strong fundamentals with room for improvement

Our review identified that while the Committee demonstrated strong system leadership and effective cross-agency collaboration, several challenges needed addressing: 

  • Information flow concentrated toward the end of assessment processes, creating workload peaks. 

  • Committee meetings sometimes shifted between strategic discussions and detailed wordsmithing. 

  • Agency engagement varied based on resources and familiarity with the process. 

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A more efficient process that protected national interests

Based on our analysis, we recommended:

 

  • Creating a shared repository to enable more fluid sharing of agency views throughout the process. 

  • Conducting more analyst-level engagement prior to Committee meetings to resolve issues earlier. 

  • Extending meeting lengths for complex cases while handling routine matters out-of-session. 

  • Developing tailored relationship management approaches for different agencies. 

  • Implementing formal induction for new Committee members. 

  • Enhancing the inclusion of Te Tiriti o Waitangi principles and te ao Māori perspectives. 

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