The Government collected NZ$237 million in fees from financial institutions participating in the Crown retail deposit guarantee scheme up to June 30, and expects to book a further NZ$231 million in deferred fees up to the 2014/15 financial year.
These figures were revealed in the June year Crown accounts released today.
Eight government guaranteed finance companies have collapsed, topped off by the demise of South Canterbury Finance on August 31, triggering a NZ$1.6 billion payout under the Crown guarantee. The Government hopes to recoup a significant chunk of this by selling South Canterubry Finance's assets.
However, the biggest payers of guarantee scheme fees have been the major banks. ASB revealed in its most recent General Disclosure Statement that it had paid NZ$36.8 million in fees.
Introduced on October 12, 2008 at the height of the Global Financial Crisis by the then Labour-led government, the Crown retail deposit guarantee scheme ended this week, on October 12. The accounts show fees collected of NZ$74 million in the year to June 30, 2009, NZ$163 million in the June 2010 year and NZ$231 million of deferred fees at June 30, which a Treasury spokesman said the Crown expected to recognise in the period through to the 2014/15 financial year.
As of June 30, 73 financial institutions - with the number unchanged from last year - had joined the scheme and deposits totalling NZ$133 billion, up from NZ$124.2 billion last year, had been guaranteed.
The accounts include a provision for future retail deposit guarantee scheme payments of NZ$748 million at June 30, down from NZ$816 million a year earlier. This includes three companies - South Canterbury Finance, Allied Nationwide Finance and Mutual Finance - that have collapsed into receivership since June 30. The provision is based on the expected cost of future payments to investors after expected recoveries in entities operating under the guarantee scheme as of June 30.
The Crown retail deposit guarantee scheme has been replaced by the extended Crown retail deposit guarantee scheme, which runs until December 31, 2011. Only seven companies have been accepted into the extended scheme.
(Update adds detail of ASB's fees).
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