In case you missed it: News bites for the week.
The Finance Brokers Association of Australia has shuttered its two-year-old New Zealand offshoot – the Finance and Mortgage Advisers Association (FAMNZ) – citing “unsustainable” membership numbers.
The closure of the mortgage adviser association follows the departure of FAMNZ country manager Leigh Hodgetts and retirement of FAMNZ’s Australian-based MD Peter White. Its membership base wasn’t disclosed but, in a statement, FAMNZ said while it had aimed to help increase market share of mortgage brokers through advocacy and engagement with regulators and lenders, membership numbers hadn’t reached the level required to make it “financially sustainable”. It also cited new licencing and commission structures for lenders that had made the market more difficult for advisers.
About 75% of mortgages in Australia are completed through brokers.
The FBAA said it knew “the market was different” in NZ and, unlike Australia, advisers didn’t have to be a member of a professional organisation.
Christopher Luxon.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon has revealed the document relating to the Smith v Fonterra case was also sent by a Fonterra staff member to a former Beehive staffer’s private email account. “This does not meet the standards expected of staff in the Beehive and we are treating it with the seriousness it deserves, with a number of reviews under way,” Luxon said. The Prime Minister’s former chief policy adviser Matt Burgess was at the centre of the controversy around briefing notes being sent to the PM’s office by Fonterra and Z Energy that suggested law changes to end the Smith v Fonterra case. The Government subsequently announced it was changing the law. Luxon initially brushed off concerns about the lobbying effort. But today he said Burgess’ IT account was being reviewed to establish whether any other work-related documents were on his private email. “Using private email to share official information undermines transparency and public trust,” Luxon said.
Tegel Group's holding company Bounty Holdings has reported income of $24.6 million for the 12 months to December 2025, slightly down on the comparable period's $25m. Company register filings showed revenue was up 5.2% year-on-year to $896.5m. Tegel has been owned by Philippines-based Bounty Fresh since 2018, after it paid $438 million for the poultry producer, delisting it from the NZX in October of that year. The group listed purchases of "biological assets" – including live broiler chickens and turkeys, breeding stock and hatching eggs – at a value of $339.3m during the year, up $27.6m on the prior year, with higher sales and harvest both up by a commensurate amount. Those live poultry assets were listed as having a carrying value of $39.2m by year-end.
Watercare will hike its 'infrastructure growth charges' for developers by a fifth, with a general increase in water and wastewater pricing to Aucklanders of 7.2% from July 1. That will see the price for 1000 litres of water increase to $2.46, while the water utilty would charge $4.28 to contend with the same volume of wastewater. Watercare said the increases were necessary to help fund planned spending of $13.8 billion in the city's water infrastructure. Chief financial officer Angela Neeson said the jump in IGC charges represented the "minimum" required under the company's regulatory settings. IGCs are one-off fees paid by developers to connect their buildings to the water and wastewater network. While the developer charges vary across the region, the price represents an increase of about $4250 per home in metro Auckland - to just under $30,000.
KMD director Abby Foote has spent close to $50,000 raising her stake in the listed outdoor retailer. In a disclosure to the NZX, Foote said she had acquired 700,000 new shares through two on-market purchases, almost doubling her existing shareholding. Before the purchases, Foote held just over 771,000 shares. In April, she spent close to $28,000 on more than 466,000 shares during KMD's capital raise. Foote, who was elected to KMD's board in late 2021 as a non-executive director, has been gradually increasing her shareholding. KMD's last annual report, published in September, declared that at the end of July 2025, Foote held 230,000 shares, up from 130,000 shares the year prior. Foote is also on the board of Freightways and was previously a director of Sanford and chair of Christchurch City Holdings.
The Financial Markets Authority has taken legal action on an alleged mortgage fraud. It has filed 61 charges at the Manukau District Court against six individuals under the Crimes Act 1961, the Secret Commissions Act 1910 and the Financial Markets Authority Act 2011. FMA response and enforcement executive director Louise Unger said the alleged mortgage fraud undermined trust and confidence in New Zealand’s lending system and financial institutions. "Mortgage fraud is one of our key regulatory priorities. The FMA is taking this action to both hold those responsible to account and to deter others from engaging in similar conduct.”
No further details were given on the case or the people involved. The FMA said it could not comment further at this stage as the matter was before the courts and there were suppression orders in place.
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