PGG Wrightson Finance to offer excluded deposits

PGG Wrightson Finance has registered a prospectus that allows it to offer deposits not guaranteed by the government from January 1.

The Treasury previously announced a range of changes to the Crown Retail Guarantee Deposit Scheme, including that from January 1, 2010, companies will be able to offer both guaranteed and excluded deposits.

PGG Wrightson Finance says it will be companies will be able to offer both guaranteed and excluded deposits. registered a new prospectus on December 21 to cover the addition of the excluded securities.wi

Interest rates will be disclosed early next year but the rate for excluded securities is expected to be around 1 percentage point higher than guaranteed securities.

"This is an important and welcome change to the scheme, in that it allows a much longer and more balanced transition – effectively over two years – away from the scheme back to business as normal where all companies are judged on their merits without the underpinning cover-all guarantee," said Mark Darrow, head of PGG Wrightson Finance.

By the time the scheme finishes in December 2011, the investor market will be used to the new non-bank deposit-taker regulatory framework.

Parent PGG Wrightson also said today that it had repaid $200 million in debt owned to its banking syndicate after completing its rights issue.