Hubbard said thanks to Treasury, PM, English

Photo / Sarah Ivey

South Canterbury Finance boss Allan Hubbard thanked Treasury, Prime Minister John Key and Finance Minister Bill English for helping save his company nine months before the Government placed it in receivership, documents show.

Treasury this afternoon released approximately 200 documents relating to South Canterbury Finance, its acceptance and coverage under the Crown Retail Deposit Guarantee, its receivership last year and the subsequent $1.8 billion government payout to its investors.

Among those documents is a letter from Mr Hubbard to Treasury dated November 10, 2009 - a year after the company was accepted into the guarantee scheme and just a few weeks after Treasury disclosed it expected to pay out hundreds of millions of dollars to investors as a result of anticipated finance company failures.

In the letter Mr Hubbard told Treasury he knew the department had been "working on our behalf during the last few weeks and I should like to express my personal thanks for what you have done".

"Although I am very thankful we have apparently 'weathered the storm', it has been a great comfort to know that your department has been there to assist in the various crises which have arisen and I, personally, am most grateful for your help."

Mr Hubbard goes on to request that Treasury "express my thanks to the Prime Minister John Key, and Bill English, as I understand they were agreeable to helping solving the problem should that have been necessary".

The following August, after Mr Hubbard's other business interests were placed under statutory management and the Serious Fraud Office began investigating his affairs, Cabinet rejected recapitalisation proposals and South Canterbury was placed in receivership.