It is reported that New Zealand does not mandate accounting separation for operators with significant market power (SMP) in the telecom market. However, under the Telecommunications Act, functional separation is mandated for operators with significant market power.

Interconnection with, and pricing for access to, networks are regulated under Schedule 1 of the Telecommunications Act 2001. The current information disclosure regime for regulated fibre service providers is mainly set out in Part 6 of the Telecommunications Act 2001, particularly Arts. 187–188, and applies to the companies providing regulated fibre fixed line access services, including Chorus. These companies are required to comply with Commerce Commission information disclosure determinations, which may include annual disclosure requirements, assurance requirements, certificates or statutory declarations, and data retention obligations.

The Telecommunications (Interception Capability and Security) Act 2013 creates upon a network operator 1) a duty to implement full interception capability (Section 9) and 2) a duty to assist a surveillance agency upon an inception warrant or any other lawful interception authority (Section 24). In order to comply with the assistance duty, a network operator must decrypt telecommunication on that operator’s public telecommunications network or telecommunications service "if (a) the content of that telecommunication has been encrypted; and (b) the network operator intercepting the telecommunication has provided that encryption."
However, this does not require a network operator to "(a) decrypt any telecommunication on that operator’s public telecommunications network or telecommunications service if the encryption has been provided by means of a product that is (i) supplied by a person other than the operator and is available to the public or (ii) supplied by the operator as an agent for that product; and (b) ensure that a surveillance agency has the ability to decrypt any telecommunication.
Nevertheless, the existence of these duties, taken together, practically means that network operators cannot design and implement end-to-end encryption. A joint communique called International Statement - End-to-End Encryption and Public Safety - expressed concern about the challenges that end-to-end encryption will pose to law enforcement but at the same time acknowledged privacy, cybersecurity, and intellectual property protection. The government stated that it is committed to collaborating with the industry to develop "reasonable proposals" on this issue.

New Zealand has appended the World Trade Organization (WTO) Telecom Reference Paper to its schedule of commitments.

It has been reported that New Zealand lacks a telecommunications authority whose decision-making process is entirely independent of government influence. The Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment (MBIE) is responsible for shaping the telecommunications regulatory framework, including establishing rules governing the operations of telecommunications companies and ensuring product compliance. In addition, the New Zealand Commerce Commission plays a key role in overseeing competition within the telecommunications sector and regulating certain services. It holds the authority to recommend whether services should be regulated or deregulated. As an independent statutory body, the Commission is tasked with enforcing the Commerce Act and is primarily accountable to the Minister of Commerce and Consumer Affairs for its operational performance and outcomes. The Commission may also set terms and conditions, including pricing, for regulated services through Standard Terms Determinations. Furthermore, it possesses the power to mandate the availability of industry-wide services, such as number portability, impose information disclosure obligations, and implement structural remedies, including the separation of services. Although the Commerce Commission operates independently, the Minister for Communications retains the authority to accept or reject the Commission's recommendations on regulating or deregulating services. Additionally, the Minister may issue a "statement of economic policy," which the Commission must consider in its decision-making.

Sections 354 and 355 of the Customs and Excise Act stipulate that businesses engaged in importing or exporting to or from New Zealand must retain prescribed records within New Zealand, unless authorised by the chief executive of the New Zealand Customs Service to do so elsewhere.

Since its enactment in 2013, Sections 215 and 216 of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 have required issuers of financial products to keep a register of their regulated products in New Zealand, even when it is in electronic form. In addition, Sections 455 and 456 require reporting entities, such as issuers of financial products, registered banks, building societies, and credit unions, to keep certain accounting records in New Zealand.
Under Section 458, accounting records, or copies of them, must be retained by the financial market conduct reporting entity for at least 7 years after the later of (a) the date the records are made and (b) the date of completion of the transaction to which the records relate.
Despite this local storage requirement, the Act allows reporting entities to keep accounting records outside New Zealand if specific documents are kept in New Zealand, such as the financial statements of any reporting entity and any registered scheme it manages, and any document annexed to those financial statements that provides legally required information (Section 456). The Act does not otherwise prohibit cross-border data transfers.

Under Section 22.2BA of the Tax Administration Act (TAA) and Section 75.3BA of the Goods and Services Tax Act (the GST Act), taxpayers in New Zealand are legally required to retain business and GST records within the country, whether in physical or electronic form. However, the Commissioner of Inland Revenue (CIR) may, under Section 22.8 of the TAA and Section 75.6 of the GST Act, exercise discretion to authorise offshore storage of such records. According to Revenue Alert 10/02, the CIR maintains that compliance with statutory record-keeping obligations necessitates the physical storage of primary business records in data centres located within New Zealand. Consequently, taxpayers using cloud computing services must ensure that their primary records are stored domestically, although the use of offshore cloud services for backup purposes is permissible, provided the primary records remain in New Zealand.

Section 189 of the Companies Act stipulates that companies must retain the following records at their registered office in New Zealand: the company’s constitution; resolutions and minutes of meetings of directors and shareholders; all written communications to shareholders and any share certificates issued; the register of directors; the register of directors’ interests; directors’ certificates; the share register; and the company’s financial statements together with its tax and accounting records.

New Zealand is a party to the Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT).

The country has a clear regime under the Copyright Act 1994 of copyright exceptions that follows the fair dealing model, which enables the lawful use of copyrighted work by others without obtaining permission. Sections 40-92 list the exceptions which include the use for purposes of criticism, review and news reporting (Section 42), the purposes of research or private study (Section 43), educational purposes (Sections 44 to 48), copying by librarians or archivists (Sections 51 to 56), public administration (Sections 58-66), literary, dramatic, musical, or artistic works (Sections 67 to 78), computer programs, sound recordings, and films (Sections 79 to 81A), communication works (Sections 82 to 91), and adaptations (Sections 92-93).

New Zealand has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Copyright Treaty.

New Zealand has ratified the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Performances and Phonograms Treaty.