The Court of Appeal has largely dismissed peer to peer lender Harmoney’s appeal against a High Court opinion on a question of law, and upheld the Commerce Commission’s cross appeal.
Harmoney Limited was appealing the High Court’s May 2018 findings which included that Harmoney’s “platform fee” is a credit fee under the Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act 2003 (CCCF Act).
In a judgment issued on 8 July the Court confirmed that:
- Harmoney Limited is a creditor
- its contracts are consumer credit contracts which are subject to the requirements of the CCCF Act
- its platform fee is therefore a credit fee that is required by the CCCF Act to be reasonable.
The Court of Appeal overturned an earlier finding of the High Court which found that investors are creditors.
The Court denied Harmoney’s appeal against the High Court findings that the consumer credit contracts were simply comprised of the Loan Contract and the Disclosure Document.
It also upheld the Commission’s cross appeal against the High Court finding that the Borrower Agreement did not form a part of the consumer credit contract, confirming that all three documents comprise the consumer credit contract.
The Court allowed Harmoney’s appeal against the High Court finding that investors are not creditors. Neither Harmoney nor the Commission submitted in support of the High Court’s finding.
