Employee shareholders have added a third plaintiff to their $4.6bn lawsuit against FNZ Group and 17 current and former directors, in a new filing to the High Court of New Zealand.
They say the move clears the way for the case to proceed after what they describe as months of legal manoeuvres by FNZ and associated parties aimed at preventing the class action from reaching trial.
According to the filing, the defendants attempted to stall progress through the Cayman Islands legal system and made three applications to stay proceedings in the High Court of New Zealand.
Private equity firm Summit Partners, an FNZ shareholder, also withdrew from the case shortly after the claim was filed.
Employee shareholders allege Summit had originally approved the lawsuit but withdrew after FNZ and its institutional investors became aware of its involvement.
A spokesperson said the timing “raises serious questions”.
“While we can only speculate on the motivation, what is clear is that continuing as a claimant no longer aligned with Summit’s interests,” the spokesperson said.
The group argues that the addition of a new plaintiff ensures the case will now progress to a hearing.
“If the institutions believe employees should not be able to pursue their rights, they will now have to persuade the High Court directly. Attempts to block the case offshore have failed and will continue to fail,” the spokesperson said.
The class action, filed in July, alleges that employees who collectively hold 23% of FNZ’s equity were unfairly diluted through the issuance of preference shares and warrants on non-commercial terms during 2024 and 2025.
Employee shareholders claim FNZ’s board approved transactions that transferred value to institutional investors, including Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ), Generation Investment and Temasek.
“The directors have transferred our equity to the institutions they represent,” the spokesperson added.
“We believe this breaches good corporate governance and is unlawful under the New Zealand Companies Act. We will do whatever it takes to see this behaviour held to account, even if we are up against institutions with over USD$1.5 trillion in capital.”
FNZ has been contacted for comment.
The fintech firm is one of the largest technology providers to the wealth management and investment platform sector. It partners with more than 200 financial institutions across 20 countries, servicing 12,000 advice firms and 26 million investors.
More than 60% of UK advised platform assets run on FNZ-powered systems, including Quilter, Aviva, Lloyds and Nucleus.
