Land Information New Zealand (LINZ) has released the first issue of a quarterly newsletter from the Overseas Investment Office.

"The PeriOIOdical" provides information on the Office's work and plans.

The current issue includes advice on how lawyers acting for applicants can speed up the good character assessment process. It says they can do this by

• Identifying the "individuals with control" of the relevant overseas person.

• Discussing the "good character" requirements with their clients early and ensuring all matters potentially relevant to the OIO good character assessment are disclosed at the outside; and

• Carrying out their own checks into the "individual with control" online, using key words such as "fraud", "investigation", "allegation" and "complaint", and including full explanations of any adverse results in the application.