Legal

An Overview of the Business

Finance Link is a New Zealand owned and operated business. We value all our customers and really appreciate all of your support.

Our vision is to be NZ’s preferred provider of business finance solutions and our company values are:

• We’re in your corner – We have a can-do attitude, and we are determined to get results for clients.
• We are customer obsessed – We are committed to our clients and take a long-term view of our relationships.
• We do the right thing – We do what we say we will do, and we are up front every step of the way.
• We celebrate difference – We understand that ever client is different, celebrate diversity and take a modern approach to our systems, processes and interactions.
• We are business owners – We are non-judgmental, and clients can trust us with their private situation and information.

Below is information that Finance Link is required to make publicly available in accordance with the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations 2014.

• Finance Link is a financial service provider which operates under the ‘Finance Link’ brand. Finance Link through its contracted advisors provides financial advice to clients.
• Contracted advisors run their own businesses. They are Financial Advice Providers under the Financial Markets Authority Act 2013 and each advisors business is required to be registered on the Financial Service Providers Register (FSPR).
• We engage Advisors to provide financial advice to clients. The FSPR shows the Financial Advisors which we have engaged, and they can also be searched on our website.

Licence information

Finance Link Limited is a registered financial service provider and is a member of NZ Financial Services Group Limited (FSP 286965), issued by the Financial Markets Authority (FMA). Finance Link and it’s contracted advisors are authorised under this licence.

Nature & scope of the financial advice given.

This document sets out some information abut Finance Link and the Financial Advisors that are engaged by Finance Link, as required by the Financial Markets Conduct Regulations 2013. Each Advisor has their own disclosure guide. These are not available on our website but are provided on request and otherwise are provided by the Financial Advisor when they are engaged to provide financial advice by a current or prospective client.

In this Disclosure Statement, we refer to Finance Link’s Publicly Available Information Disclosures and the Financial Advisors Disclosures guide collective as Advisor Disclosures.

Financial Advice and Product Providers

Finance Link and its Financial Advisors provide financial advice direct to clients.

We primarily provide financial advice relating to business and commercial lending, asset finance, working capital and property related transactions such as home loans and commercial property loans. We only provide advice about products from providers we are certified and registered with.

Our Advisor Disclosures:

• Set out the specific products that we can provide financial advice on.
• Set out the relevant product providers.

Commission and Incentives

On settlement of a loan, we usually receive commission from the applicable product provider. The commission is generally of an upfront nature but may also include a renewal or trail commission. We also receive a fixed rate roll over fee from some product providers if we assist in refinancing your loan.

This commission is used to remunerate the financial adviser that provides the advice, and to pay the expenses associated with running our business including any rent, staff costs and IT resources. From this commission we also pay NZ Financial Services Group Limited for services they provide to us in connection with our authorisation under their licence from the Financial Markets Authority.

We take steps to ensure that the receipt of commissions does not influence the advice we give to you and that our advisers prioritise your interests by recommending the best product for your purpose regardless of the type and amount of commission we or they may receive. We do this by:

• Ensuring our advisers follow an advice process that ensures they understand your needs and goals and that their recommendations on insurance cover meets those needs and goals.
• Ensuring our advisers receive regular training on how to manage conflicts of interest.
• Providing you with a schedule showing commission amounts and types by product provider. This schedule is contained within each Financial Adviser’s personalised Disclosure Guide. A Financial Adviser will provide you with more information about commissions during the advice process.

Fees and Expenses

Service Fee:

Finance Link Limited may charge a fee for the financial advice provided to the client in certain circumstances. Whether a fee will be charged will be advised before the work is started and agreed in writing with the client. This fee will typically be charged where:

• The service we provide to our clients are advisory in nature and will not result in a commissionable transaction.
• The nature of the work relating to the lending is particularly complex.
• Our client has requested that we complete work to obtain a finance approval for a transaction, and in the event that this transaction is not completed the financial approval does not result in a commissionable transaction.
• The lending is expected to be repaid within a short time period and thus will incur a commission clawback.

Clawback Recovery Fees:

In the event that a client repays a loan early, Finance Link Limited may be required by the funding partner to refund all or part of the commission they received. This is commonly referred to as a ‘clawback’. Finance Link may charge a client the amount of such clawback in the event that the funding partner charges Finance Link Limited (Clawback Recovery Fee).

For Business and Commercial lending products Finance Link Limited may, at its discretion, require the client to indemnify Finance Link Limited for the full amount of the clawback. This clawback recovery fee will be payable by the client to Finance Link Limited, at the time the loan is early terminated, or by the 20th of the month after the loan is repaid.

For Home Loans and consumer products in relation to the consumer credit contracts act an early repayment charge may be incurred where a client repays a home loan within the first 27 months of the loan being advanced. To ensure that Finance Link Limited is fairly compensated for the services originally provided to its clients we may seek to recover some or all of the cost from the clients via a clawback recovery fee.

For Home Loans, if you are charged a clawback recovery fee, it will be charged at the actual commission clawback amount or .50% of the balance repaid up to a maximum of $2,500 plus GST. Examples of when a clawback recovery fee may be charged for home lending are:

• The property is refinanced within the clawback period and Finance Link Limited was not given the opportunity to arrange the refinance.
• The property was sold and/or loan repaid within the clawback period.

Conflicts of Interest

There are no conflicts of interest to disclose.

Complaints & Dispute Resolution

If you have a complaint about our service, you need to tell us about it. You can contact our internal complaints service by phoning us on (0800 Number) or emailing us at info@financelink.co.nz with the heading Complaint – (Your Name).

Please set out the nature of your complaint, and the resolution you are seeking. We will acknowledge receipt of this within 24 hours. We will then record your complaint in our Complaints Register and notify our Licence Holder. We may want to meet with you to better understand your issues.

We will then investigate your complaint and provide a response to you within 7 working days of receiving your complaint. If we need more time to investigate your complaint, we’ll let you know.

If we cannot agree on a resolution, you can refer your complaint to our external dispute resolution service. This service is independent and will cost you nothing and will assist us to resolve things with you.

Details of this service are:

Financial Services Complaints Limited
Phone: 0800 347 257
Email: complaints@fscl.org.nz