New Zealand's Court of Appeal has ruled that a financial service provider should have its registration withdrawn after it came to the attention of authorities through a report by the RTÉ Investigations Unit.
In a test case for New Zealand's new anti-money laundering laws, it said that the registration for Vivier And Company Ltd was misleading and likely to damage the reputation of that country's financial system.
The ruling overturned an earlier New Zealand High Court decision that said the Financial Markets Authority had denied Vivier And Company Ltd its right to natural justice by failing to disclose that its initial inquiries had been triggered by an RTÉ Investigations Unit broadcast into an Irish subprime lender in February 2015 and a subsequent report in New Zealand financial website The Interest.
The Court of Appeal said the RTÉ report was a catalyst for the investigation by the FMA's inquiries into Vivier And Company Ltd.
However, its independent site visit which reported on the activity in the Auckland office of the boutique investment firm had produced enough evidence to justify deregistration.
"There was just one employee at the office. He had been there for three weeks. He was bored, apparently performing minor administrative functions only. Very little seemed to be done from the office," the Court of Appeal ruling said.
On this basis the Court said the FMA was correct to deregister the company as a financial services provider as it was misleading to suggest its business activity was based in New Zealand.
The RTÉ broadcast had focused on an Irish company Vivier Mortgages Ltd previously known as the Home Funding Corporation Ltd, which at the time had the same shareholder as Vivier And Company Ltd.
The broadcast reported that the money used to set up Home Funding Corporation Ltd (Vivier Mortgages Ltd) had been the laundered proceeds of one of Britain's largest ever tax frauds.
In March, the group behind Vivier and Company Ltd in New Zealand announced that it had sold its interest in Vivier Mortgages Ltd to an English-based investor.
It said the sale did not affect the legal status of its Irish loan book.
It is still pursuing a number of borrowers in ongoing repossession proceedings through the High Court and circuit courts.
In a statement to RTÉ, the owner of Vivier Mortgages in Ireland, Mr Richard Andrews, said he purchased VML in February 2016 and he has no connection with any former controllers or owners of VML, which in turn has no connection with Vivier and Company Ltd in New Zealand.
