Gloriavale CEO says court backing BNZ to close accounts won’t be end of the community

| NZ Herald | Jenée Tibshraeny |

Gloriavale is adamant it will continue to operate, even if BNZ closes its accounts.

“It will not be the end of the community,” Phil Jamieson, the chief executive of the trust behind the exclusive religious community, told the Herald.

The Court of Appeal on Monday gave BNZ the green light to close the bank accounts related to Gloriavale’s various business operations and entities.

BNZ tried to end its 40-year relationship with Gloriavale in 2022, on the basis that its use of child labour breached the bank’s human rights policy.

Gloriavale couldn’t find another bank to service it, so got an injunction put in place, preventing BNZ from closing its accounts until the issue was dealt with at trial.

However, the Court of Appeal is allowing the injunction to be disposed of, clearing the way for BNZ to sever ties with Gloriavale in three months’ time.

Jamieson, who helps manage Gloriavale’s business interests but isn’t a member himself, said the community was considering whether to apply to the Supreme Court to see if it would hear a challenge of the Court of Appeal’s ruling.

Jamieson said Gloriavale was also “actively pursuing a range of options” in terms of how it would manage its tens of millions of dollars of assets without a bank.

He couldn’t disclose these options for commercial reasons, but said it was unlikely Gloriavale would use an offshore bank.

He had a “high degree of confidence” that a solution would be found within the next three months.

This is despite Gloriavale’s lawyer, Richard Raymond, last month telling the court that without access to banking services, “[Gloriavale’s] companies will fail – schools, food, living as required will not be able to eventuate, and it will effectively end the community”.

The Christian Church Community Trust, which Jamieson leads, has net assets worth more than $46 million (net). It controls various entities related to dairy and deer farming, midwifery services and schooling, among others.

Brian Henry, a lawyer who’s represented people who have left Gloriavale, wants the Government to shut Gloriavale down and put a statutory manager in place to take care of its finances.

He said people who dare to turn their backs on the exclusive community, leave with nothing.

If Gloriavale’s lawyer is right, and the closure of the BNZ accounts ends the community, Henry questioned what would happen to the community’s assets. Would the leaders siphon funds off themselves, or divvy them up among the community?

Commerce and Consumer Affairs Minister Andrew Bayly said the threshold that would need to be reached for the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) to recommend statutory management under the Corporations (Investigation and Management) Act was very high.

“It is considered an option of absolute last resort for complex corporate failure,” Bayly said, noting the FMA had indicated it didn’t intend to recommend statutory management.

He said the Government could still provide Gloriavale with other types of support if it closed its business operations.

Henry accused the FMA of “having no balls”, and the Government of simply not wanting to get involved.

The Employment Court, in 2022, ruled three Gloriavale members were employees, not volunteers.

It broadly accepted the former members, who had worked since the age of 6, were subject to physical and psychological punishment, and rigorous, and sometimes violent, supervision.

Gloriavale leader, Howard Temple, also faces a raft of indecent assault charges involving girls as young as 9 years old.

Jamieson assured any illegal activity at Gloriavale was being called out.

He likened banking services to utilities, like water and electricity.

“Gloriavale, like any other institution, should have the right to access banking services,” he said.

“Have we reached the point where our banks are making moral judgments and distinctions?”

BNZ declined to comment on the matter.

However, the Court of Appeal accepted BNZ had a contractual right to close the accounts “for any reason”.

It said BNZ’s decision “was not made on a whim, or for reasons unconnected with BNZ’s legitimate interests” and “If no other bank is willing to accept the Gloriavale entities as customers, that reluctance cannot be laid at the door of BNZ”.