The Serious Fraud Office has laid 21 criminal charges against five individuals involved with South Canterbury Finance's affairs.

The costs of becoming a bank and squeezed margins saw The Cooperative Bank's profit fall sharply in the September quarter but its mortgage book grew.

With the European debt crisis dragging on, economists expect Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard will leave interest rates unchanged on Thursday.

ANZ Bank's profit jumped in the September quarter but its mortgage book shrank for a second successive quarter.

Blue Star Group's September quarter trading has been worse than expected but it's too early to predict whether it will meet its prospectus forecasts, says chief financial officer Graeme Archer in a letter to bondholders.

NZF Group chalked up a bottom line loss of more than $11 million in the six months to September 30 on the back of the collapse of its finance company.

Selling 80% of NZF Group's home loans division to Australia-based non-bank lender Resimac will have significant benefits for NZF's shareholders although it will also have some disadvantages, says an independent report.

Heartland New Zealand is finding business tougher than expected and has narrowed its net profit expectation for the year ending June 2012 to between $20 million and $22 million.

The government-owned Kiwibank's profit surged and growth in its mortgage book accelerated in the September quarter.

Contact Energy says the minimum annual interest it will pay on the up to $250 million of 30-year capital bonds it plans to issue will be 8%.

OnePath Life has seen a sharp drop in its share of new life insurance business in the September quarter and its rate of lapses, surrenders and cancellations is the highest in the market with the exception of Kiwibank.

ASB Bank's mortgage book shrank for a sixth successive quarter in the three months ended March although the rate of decline slowed and its quarterly profit rose.

Blue Star group has appointed Phillip Bower as managing director to replace Chris Mitchell who departed on November 11.

Most product categories of life insurance products showed growth in the September quarter, the second quarter of growth after several quarters of decline although the Investment Savings and Insurance Industry Association (ISI) says sentiment worsened significantly in the three months.

The government-owned national electricity grid operator Transpower has launched a $200 million senior bond issue with the proceeds going to "general corporate purposes."

Estimating how much OPI Pacific Finance's secured debenture holders, owed nearly $200 million, are likely to recover is "extremely difficult," receivers say.