The BNZ, Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi and TSB Bank are the Solid Energy lenders who will face the biggest "haircut" on monies owed by crippled state coal miner Solid Energy, Interest.co.nz reported. Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi is reported to be taking legal action to try to veto a debt restructuring deal. At this stage if it came to a straight vote (which requires a 'yes' from lenders holding 75% of the outstanding debt) it appears likely that it would be outvoted by other lenders.

A small business accounting specialist is warning new bank lending restrictions which come into force today will make it tougher for people to buy, grow and fund small businesses, The New Zealand Herald reported. Matthew Bellingham, chairman of the public practice advisory board for the New Zealand Institute of Chartered Accountants and a partner at Auckland firm Bellingham and Wallace, said new loan to value ratio restrictions would have "unintended consequences" on the sector.

The New Zealand government said it will pump up to NZ$155 million ($128 million) into Solid Energy and private lenders will swap some debt for equity under a plan to save the troubled coal miner, which is slated for partial privatization, Reuters reported. The proposed restructuring plan will see the state-owned company issue NZ$100 million of redeemable preference shares, with key lenders exchanging NZ$75 million of debt for equity and the government injecting NZ$25 million.

New Zealand's banks have already started tightening up their lending criteria for customers seeking low-deposit mortgages, despite new regulations not kicking in until next month, The New Zealand Herald reported. The Reserve Bank's new rules, announced last month amid fears of a housing market meltdown, restrict banks in how much of their money they can lend to home buyers with less than 20 per cent deposit.

New Zealand Prime Minister John Key said that the country's central bank is right to consider new tools to curb housing demand, including limits on low-deposit mortgages, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. “Absent of any other alternative, then rapidly increasing house prices may see the Reserve Bank raising interest rates,” Key said. Limiting lending on deposits of as little as 5 percent of the purchase price will hurt first-home buyers, who are struggling to save bigger downpayments as New Zealand house-price inflation accelerates.

Receivership of MediaWorks may be the move that saves the company, a former TVNZ presenter and New Zealand on Air board member Judy Callingham says, Stuff.co.nz reported. Callingham said this morning's appointment of Kordamentha, which is expected to be followed by a sale to the broadcasting company's bankers, would be frightening for staff but was necessary to manage excess debt. Brendan Gibson and Michael Stiassny of KordaMentha have been appointed by MediaWorks' senior lenders to manage a transition in ownership from private equity firm Ironbridge.

New Zealand broadcaster MediaWorks Ltd was placed in receivership on Monday after its private equity owners and bankers failed to agree on a refinancing deal, but new owners have been lined up, Reuters reported. Investors led by Australian businessman Rod McGeoch, a director of gaming company SkyCity Entertainment Group Ltd and chairman of Vantage Private Equity Ltd, are set to take over the company which operates New Zealand's TV3 and Channel 4 television networks, and a string of radio stations.

Waikato and Auckland house builder Starplus Homes is in receivership, a move guaranteed to raise the fears of dozens of creditors believed to be owed about $25 million, the Waikato Times reported. Westpac Bank appointed Corporate Finance's Andrew McKay and John Cregten as receivers yesterday afternoon, further confusing the situation around a property company failure thought to be the biggest in the Waikato since the start of the global financial crisis in 2008. Up to 140 Hamilton, Cambridge and Auckland house sites and partially completed houses may be involved.

The receivers for South Canterbury Finance have nearly finished their work and say they have recovered more than $770 million of the $1.58 billion the company owed, Radio New Zealand reported. South Canterbury Finance was placed in receivership in August 2010. The latest report from receivers Kerry Downey and William Black states all assets from the company have been realised. The receivers' report says all preferential creditors have been paid out in full, but unsecured creditors and shareholders probably won't get anything.

Voluntary administrators have been called in by the Australian fund manager in charge of a giant mortgage fund frozen since 2009 with the savings of many New Zealand investors trapped in it, Stuff.co.nz reported. The directors of LM Investment Management appointed John Park and Ginette Muller of FTI Consulting as voluntary administrators, saying the move was forced on it as a result of a smear campaign against it. LM was set up by Kiwi ex-pat businessman Peter Drake but after growing rapidly it hit trouble following the Global Financial Crisis as many of its property loans defaulted.