Wellington, March 9 NZPA - The Commerce Commission has taken steps to avoid conflicts of interest relating to commissioner Donal Curtin after news of a second legal case being filed against him.

The commission said today it had been advised the court proceedings related to Curtin's former role as a consultant to Vestar Financial Service.

Last year, proceedings on similar matters were issued by private parties in the High Court at Auckland.

Mr Curtin, who has been a commission member since 2002, resigned as deputy chairman a year ago ahead of a commission inquiry into his failure to disclose his interests.

He had been a chairman of Vestar which invested in a number of finance companies, including Bridgecorp, that collapsed.

"Until all of the proceedings are resolved, Mr Curtin has been allocated to tasks that do not involve him in decision-making related to enforcement actions under either the Fair Trading Act or Credit Contracts and Consumer Finance Act," the commission said today.

"Other steps are being taken to ensure that conflicts of interest will not arise."

The commission would not give details about Mr Curtin's work on its subcommittees. Commissioner appointments are made by Commerce Minister Simon Power.

The commission said there would be no further comment at this time.

Mr Curtin told NZPA he would not comment on the proceedings.

He told the commission inquiry last year that in his role at Vestar he was responsible for making recommendations on asset allocation but not individual investments, for example particular shares.