Talks between the New Zealand Mortgage Brokers Association (NZMBA) and Professional Advisers Association (PAA) on how they can work more closely together have culminated in a decision to have a single organisation from the beginning of April.

Wellington businessman Lloyd Morrison was a mentor as well as a director of her company, says Fisher Funds Management managing director Carmel Fisher.

The Reserve Bank is still actively considering the use of loan-to-valuation ration (LVR) restrictions on housing lending to contain the next housing market boom.

The impending departure of Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard has got people thinking about changing the way monetary policy is set - and there are plenty of views on what to do. Jenny Ruth looks at the issue.

Reserve Bank governor Alan Bollard's well-anticipated decision to hold rates steady was over-shadowed by the US Federal Reserve's statement it intends to keep interest rates at historic lows into 2015, much longer than previously indicated.

Investors often react negatively to a director of a listed company selling shares but some sales are more noteworthy than others.

Allan Hubbard's Southbury Group and Southbury Corporation are unlikely to be able to repay the more than $186 million plus interest they owe South Canterbury Finance (SCF), the latest receivers' report says.

Westpac and Bank of New Zealand produced buoyant profits and strong mortgage book growth in the September quarter.

A surge in retail deposits is cushioning New Zealand's banks from having to borrow offshore as much as previously, the Reserve Bank says.

Retail mortgage and deposit rates are unlikely to change much before the second half of next year at the earliest.

Fresh from wholesale downgrades of banks around the globe, Standard & Poor's has delivered Heartland an early Christmas present by upgrading the company's outlook from negative to stable.

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.