Labour wants SCF inquiry

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Thu, 24 Nov 2011 6:58a.m.

Labour leader Phil Goff

Labour leader Phil Goff

An inquiry into all aspects of the South Canterbury Finance collapse will be held if Labour wins the election, the party says.

Finance spokesman David Cunliffe says it's already cost taxpayers more than $1 billion because of government mismanagement.

The company collapsed last year while it was under the government's Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme, put in place at the height of the global financial crisis in late 2008.

Mr Cunliffe says it was New Zealand's biggest corporate disaster and most expensive taxpayer bailout.

"The government has totally mismanaged this fiasco - in 2010 National declined a recapitalisation deal that would have limited further liability to around $500 million," Mr Cunliffe said on Thursday.

"Instead, total confirmed losses may already have reached as much as $1.2 billion and are still climbing."

The inquiry would cover:

* the causes of the failure

* the role of the Retail Deposit Guarantee Scheme and whether people made deposits knowing the company was going to collapse

* whether the timing of the receivership was appropriate.

* whether there was a recapitalisation alternative to receivership that would have limited taxpayer exposure to around $500 million

* whether there was a proper process to realise the company's assets to ensure taxpayer exposure was minimised.

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Comments

25 Nov 2011 10:13a.m.

chris01 wrote:

Goff, Cunliffe and labour must be really desperate.

24 Nov 2011 03:03p.m.

cherie wrote:

Wasnt it under Labour that gave these garantees?

24 Nov 2011 12:20p.m.

Oh No wrote:

another Winston Peter more enquiries about SCF
Mr Goff stick to Real Politics , stop back stabbing, I do not think L.P are any better than other party all the Same talk talk blah blah and more promises ,when are in power that what counts for the Lab or other
the economy ,regardless who s the govern will get worst, then what L.P wil say ? oh sorry people the market has crashed, the economy is really bad we will have to take drastic measure more Cuts NZ does not have money anyway. I think who has more bullets will fire them ( politically Speaking) Just politics Hahahaha

24 Nov 2011 07:25a.m.

erik wrote:

oh great, more wasted money. what happened to SCF was labour signed up a finance company that should never of been signed up, that most people in timaru knew before it signed up was being run illegally and about to collapse. but thanks to labour, national was legally bound to pay out. of course people put money into it knowing it was going to collapse, heck SCF ran radio adverts in timaru stating they were covered by the covered and any money invested was protected by the government. piss off goff, most of timaru support what was done to the hubbards, they are criminals who committed fruad, like you goff.

24 Nov 2011 07:12a.m.

RAS wrote:

Bigger, more important things to worry about Labour - Mr Hubbard has gone and Mrs Hubbard should now be left in peace - what's done is done, nothing to be gained by dragging it all up again - of course money went into the company with a clear strategy to get the government payback but NOTHING is going to bring the money back to the government or the taxpayers!!

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