Rich lister pulls out of entrepreneur of the year awards amid company troubles

Friday, 2 March 2018

Peter Harris won the prestigious entrepreneur of the year award in 2017, but the solvency of his company is now being questioned by the Reserve Bank.

The winner of a prestigious business awards has withdrawn from the global leg of the competition as problems at his company mount.

In October 2017, Peter Harris, the managing director of insurer CBL, was named the EY entrepreneur of the year for New Zealand, and was due to head to Monaco for the global leg of the awards in May.

But Harris' company was placed in liquidation on Friday after an application from the Reserve Bank. On Thursday, it emerged that the central bank took the action after CBL went against its direction by paying $55 million to overseas entities.

The Reserve Bank affidavit indicated the bank's concerns dated back to 2016.

* Thousands of recently built homes covered by guarantees by CBL Insurance

Harris was added to the NBR Rich List in 2017, with an estimated wealth of $210m, mostly through his stake in CBL.

EY said in a statement on Friday that Harris had now pulled out of the competition.

'New Zealand will not send a participant to [the global awards,' EY said in a statement.

'EY became aware of the Reserve Bank investigation into CBL Corporation only after Peter Harris was awarded New Zealand entrepreneur of the year.

'We remain supportive of the independent NZ [entrepreneur of the year] judging panel which made its decision in October 2017, based on the financial and other information supplied by the nominee.

'Under the terms and conditions of the [entrepreneur of the year] program, as accepted by Peter Harris, the NZ [entrepreneur of the year] award can be revoked if a participant has, or is alleged to have, engaged in actions that would adversely reflect on the program.

'Any such decision will be taken pending the outcome of the investigation.'

Meanwhile, the Financial Markets Authority and stock exchange operator NZX have confirmed there is a joint investigation underway into whether CBL properly disclosed the issues it has been facing.

'Given the circumstances surrounding CBL, the FMA and NZX are concerned that CBL may have been in breach of various obligations, including its continuous disclosure obligations,' the two organisations said in a statement.

'The FMA and NZX will be working very closely with the Reserve Bank to assess the information available to us. The FMA has also requested further information as appropriate from overseas regulators.'