Wellington  -  The New Zealand Stock Exchange demanded assurances on Friday from listed finance companies that they were healthy following the 18th company collapse in two years.

Kiwi Finance, based in New Plymouth, was placed in the hands of accountants Price Waterhouse Coopers and receiver Grant McQuoid told Radio New Zealand he was working with managers of the company and would report to investors as soon as possible.

New Zealand Stock Exchange regulators announced that given the current environment and in order to promote confidence they had written to all listed finance companies, and listed companies with material finance company subsidiaries, seeking confirmation that the market was fully informed of their position.

They specifically demanded disclosure of the reinvestment rate of investors for the month to date, the amount of debt being serviced, anticipated income for the following month and the status of loans.

They asked for this information to be filed to the stock exchange on the last business day of each month. Companies that fail to do this will be named. (dpa)