The Takeovers Panel has released information on recommendations it has made to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs about proposed amendments to the Takeovers Code.

The Panel issued a discussion document in October 2016 on proposed amendments to the Code. The document was open for public comment and sent to over 2,000 lawyers and firms. There was a six-week consultation period, which closed on 2 December 2016.

The Panel says it received 10 submissions in response, including one from the New Zealand Law Society.

It says most of the resulting recommendations to the Minister are of "low policy content" and most address technical anomalies. Among the more substantive recommendations, the proposal to change the threshold for being subject to the Code is a policy decision for Parliament.

The Panel says none of the other proposals extend to the fundamental policy underlying the Code.

It says the public consultation undertaken indicated that the proposed amendments would result in a marginal reduction in compliance costs for market participants and a significant reduction for the companies that would no longer be subject to the Code.

"The Panel believes that the benefits of the proposed amendments will exceed any increases in compliance costs," it says.