South Canterbury Finance makes appointments

South Canterbury Finance makes senior management appointments

Four senior executive appointments are being made by South Canterbury Finance Limited to carry forward the progress already made to re-establish the business on a sound footing.

Chief Executive Officer Sandy Maier says the appointments will bring a further range of skills and initiatives to develop the core lending business, establish monitoring systems and provide expertise to maximize the value of the Company’s property and investment assets.

Dean Clark, who has extensive international banking experience in New Zealand, Australia and the UK, has been appointed General Manager of South Canterbury Finance, the “good bank”. Dean spent the last 22 years with Rabobank and in his last role as the Sydney based General Manager, Head of Business Banking, he conceived and built a successful business across Australia and New Zealand.

Mr Maier says “Dean's leadership, experience and understanding of the banking environment makes him an excellent choice to focus South Canterbury Finance on its core activity of providing finance for business expansion and development.”

Garry Sue will take up the appointment of Head of Internal Audit to establish new enterprise risk management, audit and monitoring systems. Previously, Garry was the Head of Internal Audit for the ASB Group of Companies. He is a Chartered Accountant with broad experience working in the banking, insurance and funds management industries within large complex corporate environments.

Garry has more than 20 years experience in governance, risk and internal audit and has served on the National Board of the New Zealand Institute of Internal Auditors. He also has extensive experience in implementing frameworks to meet the requirements of the United States’ ‘Sarbanes Oxley’ Act. Garry’s leadership in audit and risk was formally acknowledged by being awarded ‘Internal Auditor of the Year’ in 2008 by the NZ Institute of Internal Auditors.

Mike Coburn has been appointed as Senior Adviser to the Chief Executive specialising in real estate. Mike has a background in real estate and corporate governance as a professional director. Based in Queenstown and Dunedin, he has played a leading role in residential developments in the region. Mike is a director of Dunedin City Holdings Limited and its subsidiaries including City Forests, City Bus, Aurora Energy and Delta Utility Services. He is also a past director of the holding company for the Paperplus retail chain.

Des Hammond has been appointed as a Senior Advisor to the Chief Executive and will focus on the investment portfolio containing Helicopters NZ, and the Company’s holdings in Scales Corporation, South Island Dairy Farms, Dairy Holdings and other assets. His experience includes extensive periods as a restructuring specialist, most recently with KPMG and includes leadership roles in bank and finance company workouts and recovery. He was appointed as Independent Director and approved by the Trustees of Hanover and United Finance to oversee the moratorium and subsequent sale of assets to Allied Farmers. Des was formerly Chief Executive Officer of several NZ registered banks and is an Accredited Member of the Institute of Directors.

Garry Sue will report to the Chairman of the Audit Committee and the Chief Executive while the other appointees will report directly to the Chief Executive.

“These four appointments will complement the existing management team and create further efficiencies as the Company looks to maximise the value of its assets,” Mr Maier says.

Meanwhile, the excellent progress being made on asset recoveries by the Company accelerated through June with total recoveries now exceeding $256 million since the start of 2010.

“This is a significant achievement and a very useful contribution to liquidity to meet our ongoing funding requirements.”

Negotiations are continuing with interested parties with regard to recapitalisation. Further announcements will be made at the appropriate time.

ENDS

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