SECURITIES COMMISSION NEEDLED BY CACTUS

Cactus has yet again shown her literary genius.

While her piss take of the Hanover issue is outstanding , we think that Hanover are a complete bunch of greedy and immoral pricks and they deserve everything that the Securities Commission can chuck at them - even if it does take a while.

Cactus is none too kind on the legal profession either.

If you read nothing else today - read Cactus's letter from Chaos and Mayhem. The legal firm everyone would really like to hire.

TA TIPENE BACK AT THE TABLE BUT CHOKING ON HANOVER PIE?

There is a very good chance that Sir Tip is going to sitting round the big tribal Te Runanga O Ngai Tahu table again as the alternate delegate for the Awarua Runanga.

We are a bit gobsmacked that the southern cuzzies have not thought through the whole succession planning issue. Maria Pera has been at the table pretty much since the Te Runanga O Ngai Tahu was formed. However our understanding is that the Bluff runanga wanted some fresh meat and looked for a new face as an alternate delegate whom Maria could train up to take over. Instead they got some really old sinewy tough as an old boot over done mutton chop. However, despite Mark Solomon being Tipenes protege, they no longer share a deep affection for each other, so Tipene's occasional presence at the table wont do Mark any favours.

We also think that with todays announcement that Mark Hotchin of Hanover fame has had his assets frozen, that Tipene will be a little distracted. He was apparently the chair of the Hanover audit committee.

Watch that space.

SFO SCF INVESTIGATION IS HOTTING UP

And its NBR that the SFO is after. They want all the transcripts, tapes and documents into the dodgy saga over the ownership of the Hyatt Hotel.

Well done them. Media watchers will be taking a huge interest in how NBR plays this. They need to maintain the protection of their sources. However they are also facing some very heavy penalties if they don't comply with the SFO request for info.

And we reckon that the story clearly indicates that there really was something rotten at the core of SCF.

IN THE SHADOW OF THE PRICKLY CACTUS

We were intrigued by Cactus's very good post today on the appearance of a Jenni McManus Jane Diplock story in the Independent . As usual it was a classy piece. What people forget is that it was
Cactus who first started asking some pointed questions about Diplocks overseas travel bill and the curious lack of focus the Securities commission had on its core business. Simon Power, a bloke we have come to admire, it seems, is now taking an interest. Well done Cactus.

However, it was also the readership figures of the Independent she quoted that we found particularly interesting.

Cactus is now one of the top dozen political blogs and undoubtedly the country's best female blogger and one of our best columnists in either print or on line.

She is pulling four times the audience of the ailing Independent.

Now we are back to being a part time blogger , but we too at Roarprawn are already back up to audiences that compete with the Independent. And each week that audience base just keep growing.

The battle of the dead tree press and the blogbitches rages......

ITS YOUR JOB WELDON

Apparently there is no love lost between NZX Mark Weldon and the Shareholders crusader Bruce Sheppard.

Anyway Bruce has been on the warpath and has done some analysis of a few companies and worked out about 7 are in deep schtuck.

He suggested that some are " sitting on the edge of a debt precipice. "


NZX says he should reveal who the companies are.

We find that a bit rich. Now we thought that was the job of NZX to monitor the continuous disclosure stuff. Make sure that investors were working with as much info about companies as possible.

So it appears one of the argument is about the disclosure of banking covenants. We think they should be .

Bruce responds here.

Update : Cactus has a bloody good round up of the issue here too...

CACTUS'S ELEGANT DISSECTION OF NZX

Cactus has the flu. That means she has had an awful lot of time to think over the weekend and as a result she has picked the wings of the fly that is NZX and she has done it with academic precision and elegance. If we were NZX we would send Cactus some tamiflu anti viral and some flu vaccine so she doesn't get the chance to think too much again. Or they could just send her a few cases of Krug and a decent shag or two. Otherwise the Barbed Barbie is going to keep on their case until there is some action.

Its a mammoth read - but the guts of it is as follows.

Executive Summary

1. NZX is privy because of their Regulatory position to information that makes them a trusted source.
2. NZX charges for dissemination of this information to the marketplace and generates 45% of its operating revenue in this fashion.
3. NZX is spreading its Regulatory role of a trusted source collector and disseminator of this information into commercial publications it is planning to purchase.
4. NZX has had no permanent Head of Supervision for a year and it is arguable that this person is truly independent anyway.
5. NZX claims that its Supervisory and Commercial operations are "quarantined".
6. NZX Supervisory staff have been financed into an employee share scheme. The NZX CEO is according to the latest accounts, the third largest shareholder in the company and has a sole financial incentive to increase the earnings per share to receive more shareholding.
7. The Securities Commission has previously raised issues of conflict with respect to NZX.
8. The Securities Commission is over stretched and under resourced, more so due to recent finance company issues.
9. The Securities Commission has called internationally for "independent, strengthened, and well-funded regulators for implementation at the domestic level" due to recent subprime crisis issues.
10. The NZX CEO has a new politicised role and is seen by political advisors as having large influence on John Key.

We reckon Cactus is on the money. As she tends to be. We wait with interest the response from the MSM.