Investors in failed financier Strategic Finance Ltd. could get as little as 12 cents in the dollar out of their debenture stock after bids for the firm's loan book fell short of expectations.

Investors holding the listed perpetual bonds of Allied Nationwide Finance Ltd., the failed finance unit of Allied Farmers Ltd., won't get their money back, as the securities are not covered by the government's guarantee.

PGG Wrightson Finance, a unit of rural service provider PGG Wrightson, has secured a $100 million bank facility to help it get past the extended government deposit guarantee scheme.  

Making KiwiSaver a compulsory savings isn't the silver bullet to address New Zealand's dismal savings record, with the evidence across the Tasman unclear, according to the Savings Working Group.

Fidelity Life Assurance says its biggest shareholders, with 70% of the company, plan to reject rival Tower's unsolicited $118 million cash and scrip takeover offer.

Tower will have to compete with Vero Insurance for ANZ National Bank's policyholders after they agreed to end an 18-month dispute.    

National Australia Bank, the suitor advisors prefferred to take over AXA Asia Pacific, has made a decision to scrap its bid which means AMP is currently in the boxseat for the takeover unless other contenders emerge.

Southern Cross Medical Care Society reported a $7.1 million deficit after dipping into its reserves to help cope with a 7% rise in health-care claims and said its payout ratio is "unsustainable". 

Commerce Minister Simon Power has introduced several bills to Parliament today in his bid to tighten up financial market regulation after the finance company sector collapse over the past few years.

Prime Minister John Key would prefer a sale of failed financier South Canterbury Finance in one hit, as a going concern, as the receivers call for expressions of interest in the firm’s assets. 

Pyne Gould Corporation's (PGC) Perpetual Group is in talks to acquire ASB Bank's Aegis WRAP platform. No price was given in their statement.

Kiwibank's next phase of development will be led by an existing member of the state-owned bank's senior management team, Paul Brock, to replace founder chief executive Sam Knowles.

The biggest danger from the South Canterbury Finance receivership is overblowing its importance to the wider economy, sparking an unnecessary impact on consumer and business confidence, says the New Zealand Institute of Economic Research's principal economist, Shamubeel Eaqub.

South Canterbury Finance-controlled industrial group and apple grower, Scales Corporation, today reported a $10.1 million pre-tax operating surplus for the year to June 30, and a reassurance that it is unaffected by its majority shareholder's receivership. 

The government expects to spend up to five years getting as much of its money back as possible from the bail-out of failed financier South Canterbury Finance, Finance Minister Bill English said today.  

Bargain hunters who bet against South Canterbury Finance in the NZX debt market will be rubbing their hands with glee today with the guarantee covering the failed financier's listed bonds plus interest.