Viaduct Capital, the finance company that was suspended from the government's deposit guarantee scheme, will reapply for the scheme and denies the Treasury's allegations of failing due diligence on certain loans.

New Zealand residential property prices edged higher in June, while the volume of sales dipped after two monthly gains, according to the Real Estate Institute of New Zealand (REINZ).

BondWatch, the rating service for investors run by Grosvenor Financial Services, will have plenty of opportunities under the upcoming prudential regime, despite not being one of the headline rating agencies approved by the central bank.

Finance Minister Bill English will discuss the portability of superannuation with his Australian counterpart Wayne Swan at their annual meeting on July 16, and the country could stand to gain a "considerable amount" of some $16.6 billion that's held in "lost accounts" by Australian super schemes.

Federated Farmers is preparing to square off against the four major banks over the disparity between farm and residential mortgage rates.

Lombard Group's annual report has been passed with qualifications for the second year in a row after Hamilton-based accounting firm Auditors on London raised concerns about the valuation of debenture stock and the validity of the company's earnings being prepared as a going concern.

Lombard Group, the owner of Lombard Finance which owes 4,400 investors some $127 million, will become a shell company for Perth-based insurer Australian Consolidated Insurance.

One of the best things the savings industry could do to improve the public's understanding financial products was to improve their communication.

The glut of documents requiring submissions on the regulation of financial advisers could impact on the level of diligence, according to the Institute of Financial Advisers.

The Securities Commission has called for submissions on disclosure regulations for financial advisers in the latest round of papers on the legislation.

Things aren't likely to improve in the near future for finance companies Geneva Finance and St Laurence Property and Finance, with both firms undergoing heavy restructuring and looking to focus on minimising risk in the coming year.

Parliament's Finance and Expenditure Committee has decided against pursuing an inquiry into retail interest rate margins after National, ACT and Maori Party MPs shot down the proposal.

In its latest report, the Privacy Commission poured water on insurers' access to medical notes, stating they could be risk breaking the law if they seek too much information.

UPDATED: Savings and investment product providers need to lift their game in helping the industry shed its image of distrust with the public and have been too keen to push their own agenda. Financial advisers need to lift their game in helping the industry shed its image of distrust with the public and have been too keen to push their own agenda, Finance Minister Bill English told a seminar in Wellington

Hanover loses chief executive; Competition heats up for three-month deposit rates; Bridgecorp's Fijian resort on the block; Propertyfinace Group suspended from exchange; Dorchester looks to break even; Five Star manager gets five year ban.

Premium incomes for health insurers rose last year as the rising cost of healthcare pushed up claims by policy holders.