| Governance Entity
The term “governance entity” simply refers to the legal entity that will be used to hold and manage settlement assets and exercise the forms of cultural redress provided in the settlement package. The constitution of the governance entity is a matter for the claimant group to decide. The type of structure may depend on, among other things, the size of the claimant group and the assets and cultural redress they will be administering. It will also depend on the claimant group’s aims following settlement.
The Crown has no wish to determine these aims or the type of governance entity chosen by a claimant group. But the Crown does have obligations to all New Zealanders to ensure the settlement assets are managed by and for those who will rightfully benefit from the settlement of their claims.
Accordingly, prior to the transfer of the settlement package to the claimant group, the Crown will assess whether the proposed governance entity has a structure that:
. adequately represents all members of the claimant group;
. has transparent decision-making and dispute resolution procedures;
. is fully accountable to the whole claimant group;
. ensures the beneficiaries of the settlement and the beneficiaries of the governance entity are identical when the settlement assets are transferred
from the Crown to the claimant group; and
. has been ratified by the claimant community.
Developing a governance entity should involve as many members of the claimant group as possible, at an appropriate point in the process.
Claimant groups are urged to begin considering their Governance Entity options at an early stage in the settlement process so that they are able to have a structure approved by their members and established by the time the legislation implementing their settlement is introduced into Parliament. This will avoid any delay in transferring the settlement assets to the claimant group and allow claimant groups to begin to exercise the forms of cultural redress as quickly as possible.
The Crown has developed a set of 20 Questions regarding governance entities, to ensure that all members are fully informed about the proposed entity that they are being asked to approve. The Crown also uses these to review the proposed entity against the broad criteria of accountability, representativeness, and transparency.
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