Never mind the cow cockies - South Canterbury Finance (SCF) and Allan Hubbard's woes were aggravated by glitzy property investments, including a number in upmarket Auckland bars and nightclubs.
Failed South Canterbury Finance's receivers have confirmed funding support will continue for borrowers who meet the lending criteria.
Finance Minister Bill English is defending the Government's $1.6 billion bailout of South Canterbury Finance depositors, saying despite indications of the company's deterioration, there was no cause to remove it from the Crown's retail deposit guarantee scheme.
The failure of South Canterbury Finance once again exposes the glaring structural deficiencies in the New Zealand economy, writes Peter Lyons.
Wealthy investors pulling money out of South Canterbury Finance (SCF) to get below new limits for the Government's deposit guarantee scheme appear to have compounded the woes of the Timaru-based finance company.
Preference shareholders in collapsed South Canterbury Finance will get no payout, as the shares are not secured against any company assets.
Treasury is confident there were no grounds to remove South Canterbury Finance from the retail deposit guarantee scheme.
The focus turned today to who will buy the assets of South Canterbury Finance and the unintended consequences of the Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme.
Otago Daily Times reporter Sally Rae gauges the mood on the streets of Timaru as word filters out of South Canterbury Finance's woes.
South Canterbury Finance's majority shareholder and founder Allan Hubbard says he could have saved the business, put into receivership today, if he had not been removed from the board.
The company Allan Hubbard founded is in receivership, he remains in statutory management and another of his companies is being investigated by the Serious Fraud Office (SFO) but support for the Timaru businessman remains strong.
While the fate of the country's largest non-bank lender, South Canterbury Finance, remained in the balance overnight, the Serious Fraud Office announced it will continue its investigation of the other, separate, business entities of Allan Hubbard.
Prime Minister John Key is refusing to speculate ahead of a Cabinet meeting today on whether the Government will bail out troubled South Canterbury Finance (SCF).
South Canterbury Finance (SCF) received more bad news yesterday, with Standard and Poors issuing its third credit rating downgrade this year.
South Canterbury Finance is blaming an unnamed financial adviser for the substantial slump in the price of its perpetual preference shares this week.
South Canterbury Finance hopes to enter into due diligence this week with "one or more" parties as potential investment partners - possibly injecting several hundred million dollars of equity into the reconfigured finance company.
The latest board-room move amid South Canterbury Finance's restructuring has been to elect Queenstown-based independent director Bill Baylis its new chairman.
South Canterbury Finance yesterday announced it has increased its lending from South Island businessman George Kerr's Torchlight fund by $25 million to $100 million, but the move could possibly prompt a credit rating review by rating agency Standard and Poor's.
South Canterbury Finance says breaking even in the last quarter is a turnaround for the company after it lost nearly $200 million in the previous six months.
Torchlight Fund No 1 LP, the Pyne Gould Corporation-owned property funds manager, has confirmed it will invest another $15.5 million in South Canterbury Finance.
