
FMA Investigation Into Senior Trust Capital Ltd Ongoing
The scope of the investigation includes considering disclosures made by STC in its previous product disclosure statement (PDS) and associated advertising material and whether those disclosures complied with Parts 2 and 3 of the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013.
Concurrently with the investigation, the FMA has engaged with STC about aspects of its business.
As part of discussions between the FMA and STC, the FMA has asked STC to disclose certain information to its investors. STC has now done so as part of an STC investor communication dated 27 June 2025, which can be found here.
Any investors who may have queries about the above or their investment in general should seek advice from a legal or financial adviser.
Please note: the FMA has previously issued an update on investigations into Senior Trust Retirement Village Income Generator Limited (STIG). STC and STIG are two different but related entities.

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NZ Herald
a day ago
- NZ Herald
Donald Trump wants to open up US retirement savings to crypto, should KiwiSaver follow suit?
In contrast, the same investment in a typical balanced KiwiSaver fund would likely have grown to $65,000–$70,000, according to Swyftx's numbers. Swyftx chief executive Jason Titman said there was a case for long-term investors to include crypto in their portfolios. 'We're not about saying that people should put all of their money into crypto by any stretch,' Titman told Stock Takes. 'We're saying that it is an asset class that's here to stay. 'It's a growing asset class, and the beta – the returns – are pretty significant. 'So for a small portion, 3 to 5% of your portfolio, we think it's good for investors to have the conversation and give them the opportunity to access that asset class with those higher returns.' FMA on crypto In New Zealand, there's nothing to stop KiwiSaver managers getting involved in crypto, the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) says. The FMA's executive director licensing and conduct supervision, Clare Bolingford, said: 'In New Zealand, there is no legislative restriction stopping KiwiSaver fund managers from investing in crypto. 'Indeed, some fund managers already offer KiwiSaver funds that are partially invested into crypto (such as Bitcoin),' she said in response to a Herald inquiry. 'However, fund managers must comply with disclosure rules to ensure investors understand the types of assets that the fund can invest into,' Bolingford said. 'Additionally, KiwiSaver fund managers must act with the care, diligence and skill of a prudent manager. 'KiwiSaver fund managers predominately offer funds that invest in less volatile assets, like shares and bonds, rather than crypto. 'Those fund managers that offer KiwiSaver funds with an exposure to crypto often significantly limit the exposure to crypto (for example, to 10% of assets under management). 'This is likely because crypto assets are highly volatile, have more custody risks and often necessitate more rebalancing. 'Additionally, high exposure to crypto may not always be suitable for investment funds, like KiwiSaver, that are designed for retirement.' Fund managers' view Trump's moves to try to loosen up what the US retirement savings industry can and can't do have not gone unnoticed in the local funds management industry. 'We've been following the developments in the US, and have seen the moves by the Trump administration to make it easier to invest in private markets and cryptocurrencies,' Fisher Funds chief investment officer Ashley Gardyne said. He said Fisher Funds was always on the lookout for opportunities and saw private equity as being well-suited to KiwiSaver. 'The longer-term nature of KiwiSaver also aligns well to the timeframe of private market investments,' Gardyne said. Across the Tasman, some Australian superannuation funds have 20% allocations to private markets, compared to about 2% in KiwiSaver. Fisher Funds had earmarked more than a billion dollars over the next three to five years for its wider private equity strategy, with several hundred million dollars for New Zealand businesses. Private equity 'On the other hand, we're less certain that there is a place for cryptocurrencies in mass-market retirement portfolios,' Gardyne said. 'While some investors may choose to invest in this space, we prefer to invest in assets that generate cashflows – like listed companies, fixed income securities and private equity. 'It is very difficult to determine an intrinsic value for cryptocurrencies – and it is therefore more speculative in our view." Harbour Asset Management portfolio manager Shane Solly said that for investors, diversification was key. 'It's reasonable for long-term investors to include an allocation to alternative assets such as real estate, venture capital, credit, commodities and cryptocurrency as part of a diversified portfolio, as these assets can provide returns that are less correlated with more traditional assets and the broader economy,' Solly said. Spark's sale Morningstar says Spark's sale of its majority interest in data centres to Australia's Pacific Equity Partners should calm investor nerves about the telco. The research firm maintains its $3.60-per-share, fair-value estimate for Spark, against yesterday's opening price of $2.56. 'We make no changes to our forecasts, with the completion of the data centre portfolio sale not expected until the end of 2025,' it said. 'Shares in the group remain at an attractive discount to our intrinsic assessment. 'Investor caution is understandable, given the three downgrades to earnings guidance over the past 18 months. 'Tangible evidence of cost-outs is needed with the upcoming result to assuage such caution.' However, the data centres had been monetised at a good price, especially compared with the $200m-$220m capital Morningstar estimated Spark has pumped into building them since fiscal year 2021. 'The proceeds should go a long way toward calming investor nerves about the balance sheet,' Morningstar said. Ebos result Brokers Forsyth Barr expects Ebos Group to exceed consensus earnings expectations when it reports on Wednesday. At its first-half result, Ebos posted a lower half-year profit after losing a $2 billion contract to supply Chemist Warehouse (CW) Australia. 'While ebitda [earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation] will be down versus the prior year, it should be near or above the top end of its guidance [A$600m], reflecting solid performance excluding the CW contract loss,' it said. Adam Hall was installed as new chief executive at Ebos on July 1. 'It's too early for any shift in messaging or strategy, but we expect clear/confident communication (if provided) would reassure investors, particularly on M&A [mergers and acquisitions],' Forsyth Barr said. On a milk run? French dairy giant Lactalis is the leading bidder for Fonterra's Australian food business after being granted exclusivity to negotiate for a buyout, the Australian Financial Review reported this week. If successful, the deal will lead to a major shake-up of the country's agricultural sector, the paper said. Lactalis – the world's biggest dairy company – is on the acquisition trail. In July, the firm's US arm bought General Mills' US yoghurt business. The acquired business represents approximately US$1.2b in annual net sales. 'This acquisition advances our US growth strategy and strengthens our position as an emerging leader in the US yogurt market,' the company said then. Concrete down Stats NZ said the volume of ready-mixed concrete (RMC) produced was 891,909 cubic metres in the June quarter, down 10% compared with the year-ago quarter. In the year ended June 2025, 3.7 million cubic metres of RMC was produced, down 6.0% compared with the year ended June 2024. Forsyth Barr noted Fletcher Building (FBU) had started to release quarterly volume data, which included its Firth ready-mix concrete volumes. FBU's Firth RMC concrete volumes were down 2% on the prior year, compared to national 12-month rolling volumes which were down 6%. This suggests that Firth had managed to consolidate market share over the quarter, the broker said. Jamie Gray is an Auckland-based journalist, covering the financial markets, the primary sector and energy. He joined the Herald in 2011.

1News
06-08-2025
- 1News
Kiwibank warned for overcharging thousands of customers
Kiwibank has been formally warned by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) for failing to correctly apply aged-based fee waivers to thousands of joint account holders over a 13-year period, resulting in more than $900,000 in overcharges. Between July 2011 and November 2024, Kiwibank incorrectly charged transaction fees to 8,663 joint account customers, despite promotional materials stating that customers under 18 or 19 years old, or over 65, would be exempt. It affected joint accounts where the secondary account holder met the age-based criteria but the primary holder did not. Kiwibank was first alerted to the issued by a customer complaint in June 2023, with a staff member identifying the potential for the issue to be more widespread in December 2023. The morning's headlines in 90 seconds, new report into submersible implosion, body found in Auckland park, and mixed injury news for the Warriors. (Source: 1News) ADVERTISEMENT The issue was subsequently investigated and validated, leading to Kiwibank reporting itself to the FMA in August last year. The FMA found that 6,400 customers were affected after the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMC Act) came into force in April 2014, with overcharges totalling $747,000. Under the FMC Act, financial service providers must not make false or misleading representations. The FMA said Kiwibank's account statements had misrepresented its right to charge fees and was a likely breach of the Act's fair dealing provisions. FMA executive director for response and enforcement Louise Unger said financial service providers had a responsibility to clearly and accurately communicate fees and ensure they charged what was promised. "It is also important that financial service providers have appropriate policies, procedures and controls in place to identify and address any fee-related issues in a timely fashion." Two root causes of the issue were identified, Unger said. "First, a lack of common understanding across Kiwibank about whether, and how, the fee waiver should apply to joint accounts. Second, a system design limitation where the age-based fee waivers could only be applied based on the primary account holder's age. ADVERTISEMENT "We recognise Kiwibank's cooperation and proactive effort to address the issue, including notifying the FMA and remediating impacted customers (including use-of-money interest). However, our view is that, in this instance, the issue could have been identified earlier with better product governance and internal controls." In a statement to 1News, Kiwibank acknowledged the warning, saying it took the matter seriously and regretted the error. "We have taken steps to fully reimburse impacted customers and have strengthened our internal policies, systems and controls to prevent this from happening again," a spokesperson said. "We acknowledge the FMA's findings and appreciate their recognition of our cooperation and proactive efforts to address this issue, including self-reporting it to the FMA and remediating impacted customers. "We remain committed to fair and transparent banking practices and will continue to improve our processes to ensure we meet the expectations of our customers and regulators."


NZ Herald
05-08-2025
- NZ Herald
Financial Markets Authority warns Kiwibank for overcharging customers more than $900k
'We remain committed to fair and transparent banking practices and will continue to improve our processes to ensure we meet the expectations of our customers and regulators.' Since at least 2011, Kiwibank charged account fees on joint accounts where the secondary account holder met the age-based criteria, but the primary holder did not. Between approximately March 2005 to November 2024, different versions of Kiwibank's Fees and Limits brochures represented that customers would not be charged transaction fees on certain accounts if they were under 18 or 19 years of age or over 65. However, since at least 2011, Kiwibank charged account fees on joint accounts where the secondary account holder met the age-based criteria, but the primary holder did not. Kiwibank was first alerted to the issue following a customer complaint in June 2023. Six months later a Kiwibank staff member identified the potential for the issue to be more widespread and not limited to a single customer. The bank investigated and validated the issue before self-reporting to the FMA in August 2024. FMA's executive director for response and enforcement Louise Unger said a bulk of the overcharging – 6400 customers for a total of $747,000 – came after the Financial Markets Conduct Act 2013 (FMC Act) came into force. 'This amount and duration is not insignificant,' Unger said. 'The responsibility is on financial service providers to clearly and accurately communicate their fees, as well as ensure that they charge fees in line with what they have promised. 'It is also important that financial service providers have appropriate policies, procedures and controls in place to identify and address any fee-related issues in a timely fashion.' Unger said there were two main root causes for the issue. 'First, a lack of common understanding across Kiwibank about whether, and how, the fee waiver should apply to joint accounts. Second, a system design limitation where the age-based fee waivers could only be applied based on the primary account holder's age. 'We recognise Kiwibank's cooperation and proactive effort to address the issue, including notifying the FMA and remediating impacted customers (including use-of-money interest). However, our view is that, in this instance, the issue could have been identified earlier with better product governance and internal controls.'