The head of the Financial Markets Authority says finance company collapses have cast a shadow over New Zealand's corporate regulation, and people are still wary of investing.
Chief executive Sean Hughes says he wants to quickly conclude investigations into 16 finance companies, to help repair the country's reputation.
Those cases involve $3.45 billion of losses to investors.
Mr Hughes says the whole of the New Zealand marketplace is suffering as a result of finance company failures.
The authority says five cases are close to the point at which recommendations will be made on bringing civil and or criminal proceedings, including South Canterbury Finance, Hanover and Strategic Finance.
In a further six cases, the authority says a significant amount of information had been obtained which staff and external advisors are continuing to review and analyse.
