Briefs: RBNZ shake-up and foreign buying under negotiation in NZ, broker jailed for fraud
New Zealand's "kingmaker" Winston Peters is remaining close-lipped about his aims in the ongoing coalition negotiations that have followed the election. But he did confirm to reporters that potential changes to rules over foreign ownership of property were part of the discussion. He also described as "an excellent question" a query as to whether reform of the Reserve Bank Act was one of his demands, although he did not confirm it was on the table in the negotiations. Peters has previously called for the central bank to use the exchange rate as its key monetary policy tool, rather than the OCR. A Melbourne mortgage broker has been sentenced to five years jail for mortgage fraud, reports The Australian. Najam Shah admitted creating false documents, including bank statements, pay slips and citizen certificates, to support $170 million of loan applications. The offending was uncovered during an investigation by ASIC into Footscray based financial broker Myra Home Loans.