New Zealand

South Korea has begun collecting a levy on domestic banks and local branches of foreign banks it introduced in August, hoping to help the economy guard against shocks stemming from rapid capital flows in and out of the country, the Finance Ministry said Sunday. The Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. paid $759,000, making it the first foreign or domestic bank to pay what is called the "macroprudential stability levy" to the Bank of Korea.

Insolvency experts are welcoming a Court of Appeal decision they say gives comfort to firms trading with a company in receivership, Stuff.co.nz reported. The wisdom of continuing to do business with a troubled entity was called into question by a dispute between the receivers of pet food manufacturer Lovitt's and packaging company Huhtamaki New Zealand. Huhtamaki claims it is $280,000 out of pocket after receivers Deloitte ordered ongoing supplies but then said there were no available funds to pay for them.

ANZ National Bank, the country's biggest lender, is seeking to recover $25.2 million from the sale of bankrupt Wellington property developer Terry Serepisos' former headquarters, The New Zealand Herald reported. Receivers for Century City Investments, Barry Jordan and David Vance, who were appointed by the bank on Sept. 30, have put ASB Bank Tower up for sale in a public tender being jointly managed by Colliers International and CBRE.

A bid Monday by Nathans Finance's former auditor could put an end to a $66 million claim brought by the failed finance company's receiver, The New Zealand Herald reported. Nathans Finance collapsed in August 2007, owing 7000 investors around $174 million. PricewaterhouseCoopers receiver Colin McCloy has made a bid to recover investor losses from the directors and from the company's auditor, Staples Rodway.

Allied Nationwide Finance, the failed finance arm of Allied Farmers, has failed to attract good enough bids for its loan book, receivers say, as they try to claw back funds to repay the government retail deposit guarantee scheme, The New Zealand Herald reported. Offers for its Speirs Securities securitisation vehicle's book also weren't satisfactory, although receivers Andrew Grenfell and Kerryn Downey of McGrathNicol say some potential buyers are doing due diligence, according to their latest report.

The government is setting up a company to manage the recovery of the remaining assets of six finance companies placed in receivership while they had Crown guarantees, The National Business Review reported. "Right throughout the Retail Deposit Guarantee scheme the Government has sought to minimise disruption to the economy, while reducing the cost to taxpayers," Mr English says. "The receiverships of these six firms have reached the stage where all the readily marketable assets have been sold.

Bridgecorp renewed investment offers to the public despite directors being aware the finance company had been missing interest payments to securities holders, the Crown argued this morning, The New Zealand Herald reported. The High Court this morning also heard Bridgecorp staff were told to lie to investors calling up asking where their payments were.

Taranaki baking business Yarrows (The Bakers) has been sold by receivers BDO to a member of the founding family, John Yarrow, The New Zealand Herald reported. He had originally sold his stake to his brother Paul in 2005, resulting in a legal fight within the family when Paul took him to court over a purchase price he alleged was too high, before settling out of court. The sale, which also includes a solvent Rotorua company, Gilles Bakery, was for an undisclosed sum and follows a five-month search for a buyer by accounting firm BDO, which was appointed receiver in May.

Receivers have been appointed to another company in Wellington property developer Terry Serepisos' empire and have taken over the management of his own headquarters, The New Zealand Herald reported. Deloitte's Barry Jordan and David Vance were appointed receivers and managers of Century City Investments on Friday. It owns the ASB Tower on Wellington's Hunter St, which is home to the Century City offices, according to a statement on the accounting firm's website.

New Zealand and the companies that cut its credit rating last week have a different view of the country’s ability to curb government and household debt, Finance Minister Bill English said, Bloomberg reported. Standard & Poor’s, which reduced New Zealand’s long-term foreign currency rating to AA from AA+ on Sept. 30 said there’s a likelihood household and corporate debt will continue to rise even as earthquake-related spending pressures and fiscal stimulus to support growth strain the government’s ability to curb borrowing.