The merged Heritage Bank and People’s Choice Credit Union will build a new head office in Toowoomba on the site of a former Catholic church. Heritage and People’s Choice completed their merger in March and are yet to decide on a new name. The head office project involves demolition of the current buildings and construction of a seven-storey building, with completion scheduled for 2027. The merged entity is committed to a dual head office structure, with one also in Adelaide where People’s Choice was based. The RBNZ has made a surprise announcement proposing that LVR restrictions be loosened, saying the risks to financial stability posed by high-LVR lending have “reduced to a level where the current restrictions may be unnecessarily reducing efficiency [in particular by] impeding the provision of credit to otherwise creditworthy borrowers”. Credit growth has slowed to a virtual halt in New Zealand (total mortgage lending rose just 0.1% between January and February). The RBNZ will now consult with banks for two weeks on the proposal to change the LVR rules from June 1, including increasing the 10 per cent ‘speed limit’ for loans with LVR above 80 per cent for owner occupiers to 15 per cent; and increasing the threshold deemed to be high LVR for landlords to 65 per cent from 60 per cent, but leaving the ‘speed limit’ at 5 per cent. Payments company Change Financial has appointed its chief financial officer Tony Sheehan as its new chief executive, replacing Alastair Wilkie, who is retiring. Sheehan spent seven years at US company Global Payments Inc, where he was CFO and chief operating officer, before moving to Change Financial in 2021. He was CFO of Global Payments Australia and New Zealand for three years, during which time the company acquired toll payments company eWay. He also worked at Macquarie Capital in private equity for 10 years. Former senior banker Mike Pratt has joined the board of credit assessment software company Rich Data Co. Pratt’s CV includes regional head of consumer and SME banking for North East Asia at Standard Chartered Bank, group executive business and consumer banking at Westpac, CEO of Bank of New Zealand and CEO of Bank of Melbourne.