SFO finance company investigations – too late?

The new head of the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) Adam Feeley who was appointed in November told the New Zealand Herald he is taking a different approach to the previous chief executive by making finance companies the "number one priority".

But he says the slow response time taken so far could make it harder for some charges to be laid and it would have to take the passage of time into account.

The SFO has yet to charge any finance company directors despite two and a half years having passed since Bridgecorp's collapse and even longer for others.

He says great difficulty in obtaining evidence from overseas and challenges in getting enough information because of a lack of co-operation were factors in the time taken to investigate.