Two shareholders of failed insurance firm company CBL are leading a class action against the firm's former directors seeking compensation for financial losses.
The legal action claims there were false or misleading statements made in CBL's offer documents. Photo: RNZ / Rebekah Parsons-King
CBL Corporation was worth almost $750m on the stock exchange when it collapsed abruptly last year.
Institutional investor Harbour Asset Management along with Australian-based Argo Investments were today named as representative plaintiffs in the class action, which was being funded by LPF Group.
"The directors of CBL need to be held to account, and the out of pocket shareholders must be compensated.
"Legal action is the only way shareholders can get any money back," said Andrew Bascand, the managing director of Harbour Asset Managerment.
The parties said a number of other institutional shareholders had also indicated their interest to sign up as plaintiffs in the action.
The legal action would claim there were false or misleading statements made in CBL's offer documents in September 2015, and would allege ongoing breaches of the continuous disclosure obligations.
CBL's directors have previously said the company could have been saved by a restructuring plan, which was blocked by regulators.