Investors pursue alleged fraudster and Macquarie Bank, Fonterra's car crash PR, Calls for Comcom to investigate credit card fees

In NBR Print today: Macquarie Bank has been named as a respondent in a fresh legal claim made by about 50 investors who claim to have lost more than $18 million to an alleged New Zealand fraudster who lived a high life in Panama City. Tony Noel Lusby’s Lifestyles Investment Group first unravelled in 2011 when a group of 67 investors, half of whom were New Zealanders, claimed to have been fleeced of A$7.5 million. Hamish McNicol reports.

New Zealand’s corporate regulator has been waging a war on airlines’ drip pricing methods, which can mislead consumers and cause them to buy extras they didn’t want. Calida Smylie talks to lawyer Michael Wigley, who wants the Commerce Commission to follow its Australian counterpart and include credit and debit fees too.

The parent company of ASB Bank has broken ranks with its New Zealand subsidiary, forecasting the official cash rate will drop 25 basis points below where ASB is picking.  An Aussie parent bank and its New Zealand subsidiary taking a different view on an OCR is unusual, reports Jason Walls.

Multinational firms operating in New Zealand probably should be paying more tax, Revenue Minister Michael Woodhouse says. But much of the commentary on the issue has been “superficial” and implies this country is behind others when recent moves in the UK and Australia are in fact catching up with New Zealand, he tells Rob Hosking.

For all their sophistication, Fonterra’s [NZX: FSF] managers still struggle to communicate, writes Tim Hunter in Hunters’ Corner.

Air New Zealand’s [NZX: AIR] decision to review its shareholding in Virgin Australia raises some important questions for the airline and its own shareholders. But in Shoeshine’s opinion a divestment is a good move amid challenging times for an airline facing up to competition on its erstwhile monopoly routes.

A Commerce Commission probe into the quality of steel mesh for construction may have its origins in competition between domestic and imported supplies, NBR understands. Tim Hunter reports.

Whybin\TBWA Group suffered a revenue drop of more than $6 million in 2014 after losing a few key accounts but the agency’s new boss says the company is on the mend.  Chelsea Armitage reports.

Those who don’t follow politics week by week, day by day, tweet by tweet, have little time for nonsense about legacies, writes Rob Hosking in the aftermath of the flag referendum.

In technology news, A Wanaka-based tech start-up with some notable investors is seeking to take on Facebook with an app called Kin2Kin, which connects families in a private network. Campbell Gibson reports.

The private sector is an integral part of any post-Paris climate change action but politics may get in the way and all of the various scenarios will probably cost businesses more money, reports Nathan Smith.

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All this and more in today’s National Business Review print edition. Out now.

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