Consumer advocate says bank protections 'half-baked'
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The Code of Banking Practice is being updated to better protect customers from scammers - including pre-transaction warnings, a new 24/7 reporting channel and refunds of up to half a million dollars if a case meets certain criteria.
The confirmation of payee service - where banks identify if a bank account matches a name that goes with it - was rolled out in November.
The Banking Association says the new measures will better protect customers, but a long-time advocate for scam victims, Janine Starks, isn't convinced.
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RNZ News
an hour ago
- RNZ News
New Zealand's largest mānuka honey producer considers rich lister's takeover bid
Photo: 123rf New Zealand's largest mānuka honey producer Comvita is eyeing a company sale, amid challenging times in the global honey sector. The listed health and wellness company announced on the NZX on Monday morning that its board voted in favour of a bid by Florenz, a subsidiary of investment firm Masthead, to buy the struggling business that just celebrated 50 years in operation. The bid would see shareholders receive a cash price of $0.80 per share, representing an equity value of $56 million and an enterprise value of $119m. The proposed sale would privatise the listed company. The takeover offer came amid extremely challenging times for the company and the wider honey sector in recent years, as international customers stockpiled honey through the Covid-19 pandemic and became increasingly competitive on price. In late July, producer King Honey, that was bought by wellness company Me Today in 2021 for $36m, was put into liquidation and receivership due to the global honey glut , among others. Comvita's performance was marred by recent losses, with the latest an after-tax loss of $77m for the 2024 financial year. It expected to report a further significant loss this financial year next Friday. and while it earned modest profits of between $9m and $13m dollars in 2021 to 2023, it followed further losses in 2020 and 2019. The company restructured, saving up to $15m through 2024/25 by reducing the headcount of its leadership and board of directors, staff by 67 people and closing offices. But Comvita chairperson Bridget Coates said the efforts were not sufficient to strengthen the balance sheet for long-term sustainability. "Comvita has faced ongoing pressure from structural changes in the mānuka honey sector, which continues to face oversupply, price and demand volatility and intense competition (including online)," she said in a statement. "The environment is fragmented, with several participants under financial strain. Industry dynamics require consolidation at pace, but sector leadership demands capital strength, scale and speed, which are not available to Comvita under its current capital structure." Coates said the proposed sale would provide "certainty in a time of sustained challenges" in the mānuka honey sector. She was meeting with shareholders on Monday, who must approve the sale proposal as well as the High Court and an independent advisor for the sale to proceed. A management shake-up this time last year saw then chief executive and managing director David Banfield resign, with board chairman Brett Hewlett taking up his role in the interim, and independent director Bridget Coates appointed as chairperson. Karl Gradon left Taupō-based milk processor Miraka to become chief executive at Comvita, effective from 1 August, just over two weeks before Monday's announcement. The company said shareholders China Resources Enterprise and Li Wang, who together owned approximately 18.3 percent of Comvita shares, supported the transaction. Further details and analysis of the offer would be released to shareholders in October, ahead of the shareholder meeting in November. The new scheme would be implemented in December if all conditions were satisfied. Florenz exported vitamins, supplements, pre-workouts, neutraceuticals and herbal remedies, and the company said in a statement the move to buy Comvita would create "the world's largest seller of mānuka honey products." Owner Masthead's chairman and Christchurch rich-lister Mark Stewart said the fundamentals of Comvita remained strong and it was committed to accelerating its growth. "While Comvita has faced challenges in recent years, the fundamentals remain strong. We believe privatisation - enabling substantial debt repayment, an injection of world-class leadership capability, and a sharper focus on high-value product innovation - will deliver a new chapter of growth." One of its latest acquisitions was Wedderspoon Organic Group it bought last year, one of North America's top-selling mānuka honey wellness brands with its range of honeys, lip balms and lozenges stocked in over 23,000 stores. Florenz chief executive officer, Mike Tod said the combination of Comvita and Wedderspoon would create the scale and efficiencies needed to accelerate both brands globally. "This acquisition will strengthen our ability to support global wellbeing through trusted, science-backed products," he said. "Comvita's commitment to innovation, quality, and sustainability perfectly aligns with the values that guide our export growth strategy. We are proud to have the opportunity to keep this iconic company under New Zealand ownership." Comvita was co-founded in the mid-1970s by Alan Bougen and Claude Stratford in Bay of Plenty village Paengaroa and grew to become a leading mānuka honey and bee consumer products business. The B Corp-certified company employed more than 400 people globally across Australia, China, North America, Southeast Asia and Europe, and had more than 1.6 billion bees. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero , a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
RNZ News
3 hours ago
- RNZ News
Man claimed he was 'under mind control' during fatal stabbing in Taranaki
By Tara Shaskey, Open Justice reporter of He pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Photo: 123RF A man claimed he was hypnotised and under "mind control" for several years before killing another man in a frenzied stabbing. The South Taranaki victim was stabbed 31 times by the defendant, who can not be named, in August last year. On Friday, he appeared via audio-visual link from prison in the High Court at New Plymouth, where he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He initially faced a murder charge and was subject to proceedings under the Criminal Procedure (Mentally Impaired Persons) Act, due to concerns regarding his state of mind at the time of the offending. The defendant's interim name suppression order remains in place ahead of his sentencing and limits what can be reported about the fatal incident. According to the summary of facts, the defendant called 111 twice on August 23 in an agitated state. He requested police assistance and claimed to have been hypnotised. "He said he had been under mind control [...], had just woken up and could not remember his life," the summary stated. A person at the South Taranaki property spoke with the call taker and advised the defendant hadn't had much sleep and was having memory issues. They were encouraged to call mental health services for the defendant. Later that day, another call was made to emergency services and police visited the property. There had been concerns of a family harm incident but that had resolved by the time police arrived. The defendant spoke with police and admitted to using methamphetamine and said he had been hallucinating. Police encouraged that medical advice be sought for the defendant and provided information on methamphetamine, including rehabilitation pamphlets. The following morning, police were called to the property again following further 111 calls with concerns of a family harm incident. The defendant reported having "woken up from a daydream" and being under "MK Ultra mind control". When officers arrived, they found the critically injured victim on the floor of one of the bedrooms. He was given CPR by the officers, and then ambulance staff once they arrived, but was declared dead soon after. The defendant was arrested at the scene. He was compliant and seen to have blood on his clothes, hands and face. He also had a cut on his hand and a graze to his chin. When spoken to by police, he repeated his claims of having been under mind control. He said he stabbed the victim in the head and "I should have taken the c***s head off". A post-mortem examination later found the victim suffered approximately 31 stab wounds, including to his head, chest, arms, leg, abdomen and back. It concluded that one of the stab wounds to the abdomen injured the victim's aorta and caused a large amount of bleeding, resulting in his death. Following the defendant's guilty plea last week, Justice Dale La Hood remanded him back into custody. He will be sentenced on 6 October. * This story originally appeared in the New Zealand Herald .
RNZ News
4 hours ago
- RNZ News
'Early signs of life in the economy' despite services contraction
The services sector continues to shrink. Photo: mrdoomits/123RF The services sector continues to shrink, albeit at its slowest pace in three months, as firms' sentiment turned less sour. The BNZ - BusinessNZ Performance of Services Index (PSI) rose 1.3 points to 48.9 in July, compared to June's 3.3-point rise on the back of a dismal May. Anything below 50 points indicated contraction, and the index remained well below its long-run average of 52.9 and in contraction for 17 consecutive months. BNZ senior economist Doug Steel said that "combined with recent improvement in the Performance of Manufacturing Index (PMI) , electronic card transactions and ANZ's Truckometer, there are accumulating early signs of life in the economy". Four of the five sub-index results showed improvement, but sales and deliveries remained in contraction, while new orders held steady and stock levels expanded. Employment remained the weakest link, falling again and has been in contraction for 20 straight months. "As New Zealand's largest employer, the service sector has a major bearing on the broader labour market," Steel said. But he said, as was often in any sort of economic recovery, the labour market tended to take longer to recover. Firms were also less negative in July, but said consumers spent less due to high interest rates and cost-of-living issues, and cited other challenges like weather and rising costs for their negative future outlook. Sign up for Ngā Pitopito Kōrero, a daily newsletter curated by our editors and delivered straight to your inbox every weekday.
