Court takes action against Commerce Commissioner

Court proceedings have been filed against Commerce Commissioner Donal Curtin.

The commission said today it had been advised the proceedings related to Curtin's former role as a consultant to Vestar Financial Service.

Last year proceedings on similar matters were issued by private parties in the High Court at Auckland, the commission said.

"Until all of the proceedings are resolved, Mr Curtin has been allocated to tasks that do not involve him in decision-making related to enforcement actions under either the Fair Trading Act or Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act," it said.

"Other steps are being taken to ensure that conflicts of interest will not arise."

The commission said there would be no further comment at this time.

- NZPA