Crown guarantee pays 38,000 depositors

More than 38,000 depositors have been paid under the original retail deposit guarantee scheme that expired this year, and 45 depositors could not be traced using the available address and account information.

Eight financial institutions defaulted while participating in the scheme, which started in October 2008 and ended on October 12 this year, with taxpayers funding about $1.83 billion of repayments. Treasury's deputy secretary of financial operations, Philip Combes, said the final cost to taxpayers would be lower than the total paid to depositors but the amount would depend on how much was recovered from firms.

The 45 untraced depositors are still eligible for approximately $100,000 worth of payments in total. These depositors should call toll-free on 0800-220-010 to provide their address details, Combes said.

- NZPA