Capital + Merchant's legal attempts to stave off receivership have provided a disturbing insight into the poor shape of the business.

Auckland

This month's comment from Tyndall is penned by by London-based economist Andrew Hunt.

The number of people joining KiwiSaver continues to defy initial expectations with over 316,000 New Zealanders signing up in just the first five months, Finance Minister Michael Cullen and Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said today.

The Official Cash Rate (OCR) will remain unchanged at 8.25%.

While many other asset classes have development PIE compliant funds to take advantage of the new rules which came into play on October 1, it has taken until this week for the first tax-efficient cash fund to be launched.

Investment advisers will be required to provide up-front disclosure of fees and remuneration including commission from February 29, Commerce Minister Lianne Dalziel says.

The big news in the finance company sector last week was the collapse of Capital + Merchant, but that hasn't slowed down competition between remaining players.

ABN AMRO is offering investors the opportunity to invest in the Global Equities Hindsight Securities. This is a capital protected fund with performance linked to a basket of global equity indices.

Credit rating agency Fitch Ratings has placed Cymbis, a company related to Capital + Merchant finance, on negative watch, but has not lowered its ratings.

Standard & Poor's has given Equitable Mortgages a BB+ long-term and B short-term issuer credit ratings. The outlook on both companies is stable.

New Zealand's efforts to be economically strong should include increased capital investment by manufacturing and other firms, Deputy Prime Minister Michael Cullen says.