A US$4.6-billion class action against global financial services firm FNZ will see its first public hearing May 12, according to a statement last week from employee shareholders who are suing the firm.
The suit, filed in the New Zealand High Court in July 2025 against FNZ and 17 of its current and former directors, alleges that directors transferred wealth away from employees to institutional and private equity investors through three capital raises in 2024 and 2025.
The firm issued preferred shares and warrants at non-commercial terms in those capital raises, which “reduced to near zero the value of shares held by the employees,” the employee shareholders alleged.
In August 2025, the court dismissed FNZ and its co-defendants’ attempts to halt the court proceedings, clearing the way for the case to be heard.
FNZ raised an additional US$650 million in equity funding from existing investors in November 2025, including Canada’s Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (Caisse) and CPP Investments.
The Caisse, FNZ’s primary shareholder, has since been named a co-defendant in the case. It was not named in the original statement of claim.
FNZ considers the claim “entirely without merit,” it said in an email.
“We are confident that our directors have at all times acted in the best interests of the company, its clients, its employees and its shareholders. The investments by FNZ’s institutional shareholders reflect a strong commitment to the company’s long-term growth and success, an outcome that can only be in the best interests of all its stakeholders,” FNZ said.
The Caisse declined to comment.