Briefs: No fast followers for ANZ NZ’s bold move, Pushpay bookbuild underway
Concerned at what it sees as an overheated property market, ANZ Bank NZ (the country's biggest home loan lender) has imposed new lending restrictions on property investors, requiring deposits of at least 40 per cent. ANZ's latest Property Focus report describes housing unaffordability as "a massive problem in New Zealand... meaningful progress is urgent and change needs to be bold". ANZ appears to have hoped other lenders would quickly follow, but Kiwibank, ASB, Westpac and BNZ have all opted to leave their 30 per cent requirement for investors in place.
Pushpay co-founder Chris Heaslip is selling his 4 percent stake in the NZX listed company, and executive director Chris Fowler is to shed half his holding. The transaction is being completed via a bookbuild that will offer 54.7 million shares, or 5 percent, of the faith-based software company’s stock at a floor price of NZ$1.75. Pushpay shares were placed in a trading halt following the announcement.