Allan Hubbard has issued the following statement in the wake of the receivership of South Canterbury Finance.
Following today’s announcement that South Canterbury Finance (SCF) is to be placed in receivership, majority shareholder in the company, Allan Hubbard, said he is firmly of the view that if he had not been removed from the board of the company, and subsequently placed in statutory management, he could have helped to save the business.
“It has been deeply frustrating and hurtful, over the last nine months, to have been sidelined by my fellow SCF directors, and subsequently straight-jacketed by the Government regulators, from working to save South Canterbury,” he said.
“Since the impact of the global credit crisis became obvious, I have done everything I can to save SCF, including investing hundreds of millions of my own investments into the company.
“I have always attempted to place investors’ returns first, and my personal financial interests as secondary, and as the severity of the global credit crunch became apparent, I moved quickly to inject my own assets into South Canterbury,” he said.
“For me it has always been a matter of trust and personal integrity to investors. In a crisis like that, you do what you have to do to save the business.”
He said that in this day and age that might sound old fashioned and that he has resolved to fight back to protect his and his wife’s reputation. He went on to say that when they were personally placed in statutory management on June 20 this year, that was a serious blow to them, South Canterbury Finance and “unbelievably short sighted” on the part of the Government which acted on the advice of the Registrar of Companies.
“Surely they realised that by freezing me out and taking over control of my affairs that they would be dealing a body blow to South Canterbury Finance?” Big day for the regulators and a sad day for investors “It was a big day for the regulators and a sad day for investors,” he said.
“Instead they bring down the boom, take me out, freeze my access to my personal funds and now so many families, small businesses, farms and enterprises, throughout the South Island in particular, are going to be seriously suffering,” he said. “It was an unnecessary, knee jerk bureaucratic response and it required a strategic solution not a sledge hammer.”
Mr Hubbard said that his action was deeply hurtful and it was painful to be forced to watch events, announced today, unfold from the sideline. “I have spent my life supporting businesses, investors and charities and my track record speaks for itself,” he said. “I have been prudent and diligent, to the very best of my ability, and have always been deeply respectful of the trust placed in me.”
Mr Hubbard said that while he acknowledges that some may consider his management systems old fashioned he has never defrauded a single investor of a single cent. He said that when he was ambushed last week by the statutory managers, with their second investors’ report, and with no advance warning or the courtesy of a copy of their report, he resolved to have more to say. He said today’s announcement on South Canterbury’s fate had hardened his resolve.
“I will be providing my own analysis, with the assistance of my team of professional legal and financial advisors, to put my side of the story and I will be taking this matter further,” he said. “I cannot allow my reputation to be savagely attacked by this shameful process and all of those who trusted Jean and me, over so many years, to allow this tragic set of events to go unanswered,” he said.
“Those who care about us know I am unwell and that hardens my resolve.”
Mr Hubbard said he would not be commenting further until he and his advisors had prepared their case against the statutory manager’s report and their response to today’s announcement regarding SCF.
On June 10 Hubbard issued a statement after the imposition of statutory management and the announcement about a Serious Fraud Office investigation. In that statement, he described himself as:
"I don't believe in the history of New Zealand that any person has acted more honourably than myself."
18 Comments
Fractional reserve only works if you can create widely accepted credit out of thin air. At present, only the banks and credit unions have that ability - they're linked into the EFTPOS network, etc, so their newly created credit is interchangable. If Hubbard/SCF had tried issuing their own credit, it would be over to retailers, etc, as to whether they accepted it in payment or not. This is especially hard when this credit wouldn't be a part of the current electronic payment system. It's all one big confidence game....
An old saying nat is keep your enemies close........ I fear his may have been real close.
A whistle blower ....probably.... and like Sandy will sink into oblivion.
Nonetheless he should accept his failure to see it coming.... in the very least he is ....guilty of this.
Mate, Hubbard has just cost every man, woman, and child in NZ $100-400 each. When was the last time a private individual was able to so totally shaft the NZ public? Watson, Hotchins, et al, only caused pain to their 'investors', whereas I've had nothing to do with any finance company and now my tax dollars are going to paying out those who freely decided to take the risk and invest in SCF. So yeah, I'm going to be pretty pissed off! (Especially when he doesn't man up and own what _he_ has done.)
John k... I think if you followed the posts of the last coupla days you'd see many of us would agree he does not belong to the scum pool that your cited people do.
The outcome has dictated the up-swell of anger.... and as humans go anger needs target and vent.....
There are rats in the silo....but they remain hidden for now.
Some people can be mean (especially where their money is concerned)...
I also wish the govt funds would be used for something else but I believe the issue is to have decided to provide a Govt Guarantee two years ago rather than Mr Hubbard's companies failure now.
Btw is SCF the first GG company to fail (ie the first time the taxpayer needs to pay for the investors' losses)?
Shame on the lot of you. Hubbard didn't offshore his wealth in the Caymans and set up residence in Palm Beach or Zurich. He didn't bail out six months before the year-end report. If he is guilty of anything perhaps it was a shocking succession plan.
SCF is a tragedy, done and done. If the blame is anywhere point your finger at the regulator who should have spent the last 18 months checking and double-checking those finance companies still standing after Hanover and Bridgecorp. That the government would be stupid enough to backstop finance companies without proper due dilligence is a joke.
"That the government would be stupid enough to backstop finance companies without proper due dilligence is a joke. "
Possibly, but perhaps also an intended opportunity - as provided the regulators 'turned a blind eye' following grant of the GG and extension - yesterday proved to be a big payday for many recent investors.
Where is the past CEO, Lachie Mc Leod, in all this funny business going on? Trust guys like that who had been running the business will come under scrutiny .
It seems a pity about the GG but suppose it was necessary to maintain prevent a complete melt-down in the fiancial system at the time. It would have been better if it could have gone into education and health, for instance to paying teachers a much better salary.
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