News release

31 August 2007

All remaining finance companies report compliance

The Securities Commission has now received all reports it has sought from finance companies. All except one of the 67 finance companies that were asked to report to the Commission by today have confirmed that their current prospectuses comply with the law and are not false or misleading. The exception is Five Star Consumer Finance Limited which has been placed in receivership.

Given the recent failures of finance companies, the Commission wrote to remind all finance companies of their ongoing obligation to keep their prospectus, including the financial information in it, up to date at all times while offering securities. If there has been a material adverse change they must not take any further investment money until the prospectus has been amended.

“It is important to investors that the information they receive from finance companies is up to date and accurate, so that they can assess the risks and returns of the investment before they make decisions about investing”, said Commission acting chairman Colin Beyer. “It is the responsibility of issuers to ensure this information is kept up to date at all times”.

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