KEY POINTS:
A number of listed finance companies have sent a message to the NZX that they are not prepared to make special disclosures on a monthly basis.
The stock exchange, in its role as market regulator, told the finance companies that "in the current environment" it considered finance firms' monthly reinvestment rates, debt servicing obligations, expected monthly income and loan concentration "material information" that should be disclosed to the market.
Unless they explained by the close of trade yesterday why they did not consider this information material, they would be required to disclose it by the end of each month beginning on April 30.
The NZX specified that information on loan concentration should detail the proportion of a firms' overall lending to its biggest five borrowers, "and any significant connections" between them.
Some companies - such as Dorchester Pacific - argued the information sought was a "sub-set" of information the company used to ensure it remained in compliance with continuous disclosure rules.
Others - such as Dominion Finance CEO Paul Cropp - went further.
"DFH believes, without wishing to state the obvious, that the requests for the information sought is biased towards finance companies," he wrote.
He argued, for example, that disclosure of the concentration of the loan book was not material "nor is it valuable or useful to the investment public".
Debenture trust deeds and the trustees had already established acceptable levels, he noted.
NZ Finance also argued that the information sought was not material and declined to disclose reinvestment rates and provide information on an ongoing basis. South Canterbury Finance agreed that the requested information may be material for some companies, particularly those issuers of equity securities. But it argued that given its funding position and capital structure it was not in that category.
Strategic Finance CEO Kerry Finnigan asked for a meeting with the exchange before April 30 to get more clarity.
Pyne Gould Corporation subsidiary MARAC did deliver the requested information to the exchange.
Some finance companies such as Property Finance, Lombard and Pacific Finance - which are currently not trading - filed responses but made the point that disclosure was no longer particularly relevant.
The NZX said yesterday that it would take time to consider each response. "Where issuers have disagreed we wished that to be transparent to the market - the reasons for disagreeing with NZX's view that the information is material may be as relevant to the market as the original information NZX was seeking."
