Pressure building on Blue Chip

The Commerce Commission announced that it will examine documentation relating to Blue Chip New Zealand after complaints that people may have been induced to invest based on false or misleading representations.
It decided to take action after receiving a large number of complaints from Blue Chip investors via property consultant Olly Newland.

The Commission’s Fair Trading branch will investigate whether there has been any evidence of possible breaches of the Fair Trading Act.

Meanwhile, ginger group Exposing Unacceptable Financial Advice (EUFA) is also getting involved.

EUFA was established last year to represent investors who had lost money in finance company collapses.

It has established an action group for Blue Chip after 19 Blue Chip companies were put into liquidation.

Many calls have prompted Suzanne Edmonds to start this group as

“It is becoming evident that investors are willing to group together to gain strength in any actions being or to be taken,” EUFA organiser Suzanne Edmonds says.

“Once the group membership grows, meetings with legal counsel and perhaps officials will take place in communities that have been affected.”

“There is something very fishy about this situation – you can’t tell us that 19 company’s can go into receivership in the same day with out there being a very worrying common thread”.

She supports calls from Newland to put the Blue Chip group into statutory management.