7 Aug 2013

Questions over stock exchange compliance by Fonterra

7:00 am on 7 August 2013

The New Zealand Shareholders Association is questioning whether Fonterra complied with stock exchange disclosure rules.

Association chairman John Hawkins said health concerns resulting from the company's botulism scandal, and any damage caused to New Zealand's reputation, needed to be addressed before anything else.

But Mr Hawkins said once those more important matters had been addressed, his association had questions about whether Fonterra complied with stock exchange disclosure rules.

"Fonterra floated some shares on the market some months ago. That means that they have responsibilities to disclose anything that might affect the share prices immediately, not days or weeks or months down the track," he said.

The association would be asking the stock exchange and the Financial Markets Authority to determine whether there had been any breaches and whether investors, as well as the public, were misled.