Investors’ last chance for Hanover money
There’s less than a week to go before the deadline closes for Hanover Finance investors to claim their share of $18 million, and 480 still haven’t done it.
The Hanover group of companies hit financial trouble in 2008 owing $554m to 16,500 investors.
In 2015 the Financial Markets Authority (FMA) negotiated a settlement with former directors of Hanover Finance, Hanover Capital and United Finance, resulting in $18m to distribute to debenture and capital note holders.
But accounting firm Deloitte, hired to hand out the settlement money, says the deadline to claim the money expires on Friday, and it still has $1.7m of cash to hand back. That’s an average of just over $3500 for the 480 investors.
Any money that is not claimed will go into the Government’s unclaimed money trust account, where it will sit for six years, after which, if still unclaimed, it will be transferred into the Government’s coffers.
Deloitte hired a debt collection agency to contact Hanover investors who were due money from the $18m settlement.
By the end of last year 85 per cent of eligible investors had responded to correspondence and received their money.
Since then a further 100 missing investors have been tracked down, or have contacted Deloitte.
The amount due to each Hanover Finance secured depositor under the settlement was 16 cents for every $1 they had invested. United Finance secured depositors were due 19c in every $1 invested. Hanover Capital bond holders were due 6.5c in every $1.
Not all Hanover investors got to share in the settlement. Only those who made their investments with the three related finance companies during a specific period, or rolled over their investments, during that period were included.
The $18m settlement ended a legal action taken by the FMA in which it alleged breaches of the Securities Act arising from what it considered were misleading statements in offer documents between 7 December 2007 and 23 July 2008 relating to the financial position of the Hanover Finance companies.
In 2015, when the settlement was agreed, Hanover directors Bruce Gordon, Mark Hotchin, Gregory Muir and Tipene O’Regan denied any wrongdoing.
‘‘All directors at all times believed on reasonable grounds that the statements in the prospectuses were true,’’ they said in a written statement.
The directors said they settled to avoid the legal action dragging on and because insurers were able to provide the payment.