Lombard directors face criminal charges

The Securities Commission has added criminal proceedings to its civil prosecution of Lombard Finance & Investments' directors, including former cabinet ministers Doug Graham and Bill Jeffries.

The board's directors, which is completed by Lombard chief executive Michael Reeves and Lawrence Bryant, each face fines of up to $300,000 and a maximum of five years in jail if they are found guilty of misleading investors with a prospectus and investment statement in 2007. Each director faces a fine of up to $500,000 under the civil prosecution.

NZICA censures Bridgecorp's Roest, Five Star's Bowden

Disgraced Bridgecorp director Rob Roest and Five Star Finance's Anthony Bowden have been censured by the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants in its latest disciplinary hearing.

Roest, who did not attend the hearing, was found guilty of conduct unbecoming an accountant, breaching the institute's code of ethics and being adjudicated bankrupt, and ordered to pay $5,361 and suspended from the body's membership for the period of his five-year ban on being a director of a company.

Bowden appeared, pleading guilty to conduct unbecoming an accountant, and in the course of his evidence, was found guilty of breaching the body's code of ethics. He was ordered to pay a fine of $5,000 and suspended for the term of his five-year ban on holding a company directorship.

Rural Portfolio Capital breaches trust deed

Rural Portfolio Capital, a unit of Craig Norgate's and Baird McConnon's investment company that has bonds listed on the NZX, breached the terms of its security trust deed after making its half-yearly dividend payment.

The $60 million payment of redeemable preference shares sapped the funds of its dividend escrow account beyond the required level to meet its next obligation due in October.