Forum Archive Index - November 2003

["tennyson@caverock.net.nz" <tennyson@caverock.net.nz>]

Hi Malcolm,

>
>
>HI Snoopy since when has a share registry been an expert on taxation
>or is expected to be. They only put stuff in envelopes the companies
>provide. Surely the companies that operate here such as Telstra use
>tax accountants for their own company tax matters so Telstra should
>know more about NZ tax obligations of shareholders than a simple 
clerk
>in a registry.
>

I would certainly hope that Telstra would know more about their own tax 
obligations than a simple clerk at the registry.  That is quite right.

However, whether Telstra should know more about the tax obligations 
*of their NZ shareholders* than a New Zealand company registry office 
is another matter.    Normally I wouldn't expect an overseas company to 
know *anything* about the tax obligations of their New Zealand 
shareholders.    But when an overseas company goes so far as to list in 
NZ ( as Telstra did) and in so doing encourages New Zealanders to 
invest, I do expect them to take more than the minimum legally required 
care.

I do agree that the first obligation is on Telstra to do the right thing.  
However if Telstra fail to do so, either because of ignorance or laziness, 
then I feel it is up to their New Zealand agent to point out the mistake in 
their ways.   

The particular type of tender for shares that Telstra put out is not 
unusual.    Other Australian companies have done it before.   But such 
an offer is almost never a worthwhile offer for New Zealand investors to 
pick up, because of the tax argument I outlined earlier in this thread.

In summary, for someone who is dealing in shares all the time, like a 
registry office, the offer that came from Telstra was more or less a 
standard document.    No special knowledge should have been required 
to know that it was a bum deal.

A newspaper editor would be expected to assess the credibility of a 
press release before blinding distributing it as 'news'.     This doesn't 
mean a newspaper never makes mistakes in what they publish.   But in 
my assessment the registry office should at least show a similar 
standard of care to that of a newspaper editor.

SNOOPY

PS
> 
> Also snoopy I thought you were moaning about currency when Telstra
> asked you for a NZ bank account  number to credit your dividends into.
> I take it now you just wanted a cheque. I thought from your original
> email you wanted a cheque in Australian dollars.
> 

I am getting what I want right now.  A cheque in Australian dollars from 
the NZ registry.     What I object to is TLS telling me that they won't do 
that any more.   That is why I asked if such a change in policy by TLS 
(refusing to issue cheques of any kind) was legal.




--
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----------------------------------
"You can tell me I'm wrong twice, 
but that still only makes me wrong once."


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