The Shareholders' Association says the assets of the former Hanover director, Mark Hotchin, should have been frozen before now.
At the request of the Securities Commission, the High Court in Auckland on Wednesday froze assets associated with Mr Hotchin, who is living overseas.
The commission applied for the freeze in case any civil claims that are brought by investors in Hanover Finance, Hanover Capital or United Finance.
Shareholders' Association chairman John Hawkins says if the companies had gone into receivership a long time ago things could have been dealt with in an orderly fashion.
Mr Hawkins fears many of the potential assets will already have been put beyond the reach of the commission.
Mark Hotchin issued a statement on Wednesday saying he's only been provided with limited information about the investigation, and is applying to have the order revoked.
