National Finance 2000 directors banned

The directors of failed finance company National Finance 2000 have been banned from acting as directors of any company for between four and four-and-a-half years. The bans were handed out for mismanagement of the finance company. The Deputy Registrar of Companies Peter Barker banned Trevor Allan Ludlow and Carol Anne Braithwaite for four years and Anthony David Banbrook for four-and-a-half years. The maximum prohibition able to be handed out is five years. Barker ruled that Ludlow, Braithwaite and Banbrook mismanaged National Finance (amongst other companies) and it was this mismanagement that, at least partly, contributed to the company's failure. The mismanagement allegations include: reckless trading; failure to comply with its prospectus; breach of director's duties; and failure to maintain adequate books and records. National Finance 2000 was placed in receivership in May 2006 with 2,026 deposits worth NZ$25.5 million, according to our Deep Freeze list. Barker said that investors would have relied on the directors and the decisions they made."A director must take steps to get in a position to monitor the company and to form independent judgment on the matters that should be considered by a director," he said. The prohibition prevents those charged from acting as directors or promoters of a company, or being concerned in, or taking part, whether directly or indirectly, in the management of a company.