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Category: Corporate & Commercial

  • Mainzeal – the “perils” of shareholder support

    29 November 2023

    Lawyers and business people have now had a month to digest the Supreme Court’s decision in Yan v Mainzeal Property and Construction Limited (In Liquidation) (Mainzeal).[1]The Supreme Court (Court) upheld the Court of Appeal’s decision that the Mainzeal directors were liable for insolvent trading and ordered that the directors contribute $39.8 million plus interest to the assets of the company. The liability of three of the four directors was capped at $6.6 million plus interest.The Mainzeal decision is perhaps unsurprising. ...

  • Tiny Homes – time to review

    23 March 2023

    Tiny or modular homes have become popular in New Zealand in recent times. This is not surprising. Housing affordability and constraints on the building sector have proved challenging to many would-be home buyers. The tiny home option offers an affordable alternative with a simple building and consents package. It also appeals to those looking at retirement or a lifestyle change.Unfortunately, the problem with tiny home providers is their tendency to go broke, leaving buyers out of pocket with no home.The ...

  • Understanding The Differences Between An Agreement To Lease And A Deed Of Lease

    11 October 2022

    Whether you are interested in leasing your own commercial property or looking to lease one as a tenant, it is important you understand the differences between the documents commonly entered into for commercial leasing arrangements.Situations can sometimes arise in which one or the other party is surprised, and, in some cases, financially disadvantaged, by not having fully understood the ramifications of signing these commercial documents.The two most common documents used in commercial leasing arrangements are an Agreement to Lease and ...

  • Changes to the Responsible Lending Rules underwhelm

    8 July 2022

    Changes to the Responsible Lending Code (Code) and the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Regulations 2004 (Regulations) took effect on 7 July 2022. The changes follow a review by the Council of Financial Regulators. Many will remember that the review arose as Minister David Clark’s response to substantial criticism of the major reforms of the Code that took effect in December last year.The changes are intended to relax some of the rules in the credit affordability – that is income ...

  • Financial sector regulation continues

    17 May 2021

    It’s been a busy couple of months helping clients with the changes to the financial advice regime.The wave of regulation in the financial sector continues.The next major change will be the certification of lenders and mobile traders. This change takes effect from 1 October 2021. To continue in business, lenders providing consumer credit contracts and mobile traders will need to be certified by the Commerce Commission. This new requirement does not apply to lenders licensed or authorised by the Financial ...

  • Procedural Requirements for Guarantees

    9 March 2021

    Clearly record the terms of a guarantee in writing. And all intended guarantors sign the guarantee.The Supreme Court in Brougham v Regan has recently emphasised the strict requirements for a guarantee to be valid and enforceable. It overturned the Court of Appeal, which had taken a more relaxed approach in reaching its decision.A company entered into a Term Loan Agreement (“the Agreement”) with each of the two directors being named as guarantors of the loan. There were two key features ...