A High Court judge says carpet maker Cavalier Bremworth breached the Fair Trading Act and found the firm made misleading statements about warranties for a new range.

Laws removing restrictions for women and Roman Catholics from royal succession are still to be passed in New Zealand.

Dysfunction at the Greymouth Petroleum board has become "more serious" since a judge ordered one group of shareholders to sell up, the High Court has heard.

An Auckland real estate firm accused of unlawfully taking intellectual property from one of New Zealand's largest property databases has settled its case outside court.

Mark Hotchin's attempt to join two trustee companies to the FMA's civil case against him and make them contribute to any potential damages is dismissed.

Mainfreight says an official history of the company is incorrect - and that a big lawsuit against the former owners of a European firm it bought has yet to begin.

High-powered QC Bruce Gray has been appointed lead counsel in a lawsuit targeting penalty fees charged by New Zealand's biggest banks.

A lawsuit claiming the ANZ Bank charged "excessive" penalty fees is to be filed in the High Court at Auckland today.

More than 4000 extra people have signed up overnight to join a legal bid to sue the banks over penalty fees after ANZ was named yesterday as the first target.

Shareholders' Association founder Bruce Sheppard plans to call 25 witnesses defending the defamation case brought against him by Hanover Finance's Mark Hotchin and Eric Watson.

For Ivor de Menefy it's not about the money, it's a matter of principle.

The New Zealand Bankers' Association expects a legal case claiming the ANZ charged its customers unfair penalty fees will be vigorously defended.

The first bank to be taken to court in a law suit targeting "unfair" default fees is to be named today.

Ex-rich-lister Jamie Peters entered into a finance agreement on a luxury car at a time when he was unable to pay debts when they fell due, the High Court heard today.

Former rich-lister Jamie Peters has told the High Court he "barely survived" using $80,000 from a friend's bank account.

Belgrave Finance director Stephen Smith has been sentenced to four years in jail.

Investors in two of Allan Hubbard's frozen businesses are getting another payout, their statutory managers said today.

A director of a failed finance company who is accused of misleading investors says he cannot afford a lawyer and will probably have to represent himself at trial.

Owners of apartments in Auckland's five-star Metropolis tower are pitted against one another in battles which have ranged from cat-keeping to who sits on the body corporate.

A resident of New Zealand's tallest apartment tower has lost a bid to injunct body corporate members.

The Commerce Commission says it cannot comment on whether it has reached any resolution in its long-running air cargo proceedings against Air New Zealand.

Defamation action launched by Hanover's Mark Hotchin and Eric Watson against the former chairman of the Shareholders Association will be heard by a judge alone