Trustee Executors has announced that 35,000 South Canterbury Finance investors who are due to receive up to NZ$1.6 billion in government guaranteed investments and interest payments may now not receive their money back until mid-October.
The government handed over NZ$1.6 billion to Trustee Executors on August 31, but the trustee then had to get a register of data on who the investors were and how much they were owed to Computershare as paying agent. Trustee Executors said the audit and transfer of the data was a complex process that was nearly complete.
Trustee Executors Regional Manager Yogesh Mody said the registry file was likely to be with Computershare "in the coming days, but on current information it will take about two weeks from when they receive the file to when the payment can be made."
"We understand the process is taking longer than some may have thought however the processes of auditing and confirming investor details on the register are essential to ensure investors are paid the correct amount. This is a complex, detailed process," Mody said.
The government paid NZ$1.6 billion to the trustee on August 31 as a full settlement under the terms of the government guarantee on investments in South Canterbury Finance. Bond holders, who are also all being paid out, have already started receiving payments of up to NZ$350 million because the bond register was already managed by Computershare.
Debenture investors will also receive a 3% interest return from August 31 up until the day they were paid.
A spokeswoman for Trustee Executors said the money had been placed back on deposit with the government from August 31 so the trustee would not receive any returns above the 3% Official Cash Rate.
If the NZ$1.6 billion had been placed with a bank at a call rate of 3.75% then any trustee would have received a 'bonus' of NZ$1.3 million. See all bank call rates here.
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