At some stage an inquiry is going to have a look at the government’s actions in the Hubbard group case.
I don’t want to get into too much detail while there are ongoing investigations, and hopefully even new investigations to be opened.
and on Power :-
don’t think he had a real choice. Received advice. Could not ignore it in my opinion. Needed to pass regulation. Then it must be announced and he was Minister responsible. Statutory management can never be a secret.
Bernard Hickey got into the Hubbards yesterday. He asks some fair questions.
But the blogger who has got closest to the core issue is Cactus Kate. She points out :-
Bill English is incorrect (well let us face facts – teling porkies) in this interview. The taxpayer did not have to pay SCF anymore than they would have had to for Hanover or Blue Chip. SCF took deposits for and moved $700m (or 41% of total) of their lending to more risky criteria even into the the hyper-risk of mezzanine lending. They breached the guarantee and their own CEO said so.
It seems that English knew that SCF did not meet the criteria when its guarantee was renewed. If that is the case he is gone.
