Changes have been made to the original Government deposit guarantee scheme allowing firms to offer both guaranteed and non-guaranteed deposits.

Property finders, the people who match properties to potential investors, may cause the newly-active Real Estate Agents Authority (REAA) a few headaches in the coming months, with some confusion over whether or not they will need to be licensed under the new regime.

Allan Hawkins is set to swoop on Cynotech Holdings Ltd., the small finance company he chairs, after his private investment company announced plans for a takeover bid. The shares surged almost 32% to 14.5 cents.

New Zealanders are still optimistic about the state of the housing market, according to an ASB survey.

The deposit war amongst the banks over the past year has kept their profit margins under pressure according to reports by the central bank and auditor KPMG.

Commissioner of Financial Advisers Annabel Cotton explains why two Code Committee members were forced to resign.

Grosvenor Financial Services chief executive Allan Yeo surprised advisers last week at their end of year conference dinner when he said he would be taking his hands away from the day-to-day New Zealand business to focus on the company's strategic outlook.

The insurance industry needs to band together and grow the market rather than continue the in-fighting and tussling for a bigger share, according to the head of Asteron.

The Reserve Bank expects there will be some failures in finance companies covered by the government's deposit guarantee scheme as they come to grips with new prudential requirements due to come in next year.

Hanover Finance doubts it will be able to make full repayments to its investors under the debt restructuring plan due to the “rapid deterioration in the commercial property development market.”

Gold is not as safe an investment as many people think, with much of it gains this year offset by a plummeting US dollar, the unit in which the precious metal is priced.

St Laurence, the finance company that went into moratorium last year, has staved off the threat of receivers after additional loan provisioning sparked its trustee, Perpetual Trust, to review its position.

The government has increased its provisions for the retail deposit guarantee scheme to $863 million for any potential payments it is forced to pay out.

Auckland house prices reached a 22-month high in October and the volume of sales rose from a year earlier, suggesting a revival in confidence in property is encouraging both buyers and sellers.

The global financial crisis was further proof that financial advisers need to have the hard conversations with their clients and hold to long-term asset allocations to take advantage of sharp upswings.

Lloyd Morrison investment firm Morrison & Co has tapped Craigs Investment Partners to investigate setting up a retail fund to take advantage of upcoming public-private partnerships.