“Core banking services for government haven’t been tendered for over 20 years and banking trends and technology have evolved considerably during this time,” Mr Joyce says.

“This RFP, released via GETS today, is an opportunity for payments and banking suppliers to work with government to put in place a modern banking solution that is flexible enough to accommodate future innovation.”

Mr Joyce says taking to market the banking business of core government agencies is a significant achievement in itself which will provide greater opportunities for better financial payment interaction between government, business and taxpayers.

“Providing opportunities for all government agencies under the planned new cross-government contracts will assist the Government’s better public services goal of making it easier for individuals and businesses to interact with government,” Mr Joyce says.

“An all-of-government banking solution is part of the wider Government Procurement Reform Programme aimed at making government buying as efficient as possible, encouraging innovation, reducing costs and improving competition.”

Given the major transformation programme Inland Revenue is already currently undertaking, its banking services in relation to Crown Revenue will remain with Westpac for the duration of the initial eight year term of the Transactional Banking Services contract. However Inland Revenue will participate in all of the sub-categories, including transactional banking for departmental expenses, card services and foreign exchange transactions. All other core crown agencies will participate in full in the new contract.

Respondents have at least 60 working days to complete the RFP which closes on 10 October 2014.

For more information on the all-of-government banking tender visit: http://www.business.govt.nz/procurement/all-of-government-contracts/under-development/banking-services

Ms Simpson is of Tainui, Ngāi Tahu and Ngāpuhi descent, and is the founding director of Māori policy advisory firm Kōwhai Consulting Ltd. She is currently a director of Mighty River Power Ltd, AgResearch Ltd and is also a member of the Waitangi Tribunal. She will shortly retire as a director of Landcare Research.

“The Reserve Bank board will benefit from Ms Simpson’s strong governance background across a range of sectors, and her deep understanding of the Māori economy,” Mr English says.

“I am pleased a director of Ms Simpson’s calibre has made herself available to serve on the board and I am confident she will add value to the bank’s work.”

Ms Simpson fills the vacancy left by Sue Sheldon’s retirement earlier in 2014.

Mr English also confirmed the reappointment of Wellington-based company director Keith Taylor for a second term as a director of the bank. Mr Taylor is currently chair of the Government Superannuation Fund and a commissioner on the Earthquake Commission board.

The World Bank’s Doing Business report, released today, is an annual study measuring government regulations and their effect on business across 189 economies.

“This is excellent news. Only Singapore and Hong Kong are higher than us overall and we still rank first in the world for starting a business and investor protection,” Mr Joyce says.

“This World Bank report is highly regarded and is used by businesses internationally when they consider setting up operations. The fact that New Zealand continues to rank so high sends a clear message that we are an ideal country for business investment.”

While New Zealand is in third place for the second year running, improvements to the business regulations were evident in a number of areas.

The cost to a business of construction permits and getting an electricity supply, as a percentage of income per capita, have dropped every year since 2010. Improvements to New Zealand’s court system were also cited by the World Bank as making contract enforcement speedier and less costly to business.

The World Bank’s Doing Business report provides objective measures of the time, cost and number of procedures involved in all major aspects of running a business. It is available at:

http://www.doingbusiness.org/reports/global-reports/doing-business-2014

“That’s $4 million that goes back into frontline health services,” Mr Ryall says.

“By moving to one bank nationally, DHBs have reduced their banking administration costs, standardised fees, and are earning a better rate of interest on their collective deposits,” Mr Ryall says.

“The savings are the result of a market process that was led by Health Benefits Limited (HBL) on behalf of all 20 DHBs. The process has seen Westpac Bank awarded a contract to provide banking and treasury services for all DHBs.

“The contract provides a number of benefits for DHBs including a so-called sweep arrangement where at the end of each business day all the bank accounts of DHBs have are ‘swept’ into one account and they can earn a greater rate of interest on the money collectively than they would have earned on their individual accounts.

“On any given day there is collectively between $300 million and $1.4 billion in DHB bank accounts – ready to pay employees, vendors and suppliers. So the sweep arrangement has significant savings potential.

“This is a good example of a substantial benefit from DHBs working together to save money that would otherwise have been difficult for an individual DHB or smaller group of DHBs to achieve on their own,” says Mr Ryall.

HBL works in partnership with DHBs to save money by reducing their administration, support and procurement costs. The programmes HBL and the health sector are working on have already delivered more than $200 million in savings since 2011, with most of the savings coming from using the collective purchasing power of DHBs to negotiate better prices.

“The Department of Internal Affairs has been working with a number of major banks to encourage them to use RealMe. Kiwibank and TSB Bank have confirmed they will use RealMe for their online banking services, and other banks such as Westpac have given very strong commitments. I look forward to more businesses signing up to RealMe in the near future.

“Today’s announcement means that the same identity verification system will be usable not only for the 40 government services already using RealMe, but for online transactions with participating banks as well.

“RealMe is another example of better public services making life easier for New Zealanders. It will soon be a reality that Kiwis can apply for a passport, update their electoral roll details, and open a bank account – all while staying in their living room, and using the same username and password each time they prove their identity.

“RealMe enables proof of identity online to a high degree of confidence. It is the online equivalent of walking up to a counter and showing your driver’s licence or passport. It will also enable New Zealanders to log in to multiple government services with a single username and password.

“It also enables banks to meet their obligations under the new Anti-Money Laundering and Countering Financing of Terrorism legislation.

“Law changes last year enabled private companies to use RealMe. The banking sector is leading the way, and I hope to see further commercial use of the service in the future.”

Japanese investment bank Nomura has acquired South Canterbury’s consumer, business and rural loan portfolios – the last amongst the “good bank” of assets, said NBR.

The three loan portfolios have a combined book value of approximately $123 million, receivers Kerryn Downey and William Black of McGrathNicol said in announcing the deal Tuesday. However the actual purchase price was kept secret, said NBR.

Mr Black said the sale represents an excellent outcome and is another important step in maximizing the return for the Crown when combined with the other sale processes completed to date and loan recoveries made during the receivership.

According to NBR, there has been speculation in the market that Nomura paid about $80 million for the loan book, or about 70c in the dollar. Other sources have suggested it was sold for as little as $35 million. However, Mr Black dismissed the speculation.

South Canterbury Finance was tipped into receivership last year, triggering a $1.7 billion payout on the government’s deposit guarantee scheme, NBR noted.

In April the government said the net cost of retail deposit guarantee had been raised to $1.2 billion from an earlier estimate of about $900 million, mainly due to lower than-expected recoveries from related party loans at South Canterbury.

According to NBR, this latest sale represents the last of South Canterbury’s more saleable assets and follows sales of Face Finance, Helicopters NZ, and shares in Scales Corp.

Once third party debts are stripped out the four asset sales have brought in about $360 million, although Mr Black would not give a figure, said the report.

Black reiterated that it was important to realize that recoveries had also come through loan repayments. In April the receivers said they had recovered $299.69 million in receipts, including $238.7 million of loan book realizations, said NBR.

Collections came from scheduled principal and interest installments, early repayments and settlements. A further $59 million of intercompany loans were recovered, indicated the report.

However, there have also been plenty of outgoings including new loan advances of more than $50 million under new, more stringent lending criteria, the report indicated.

PGC has proposed to acquire a NZ$14m participation in NAB’s first ranking loan facilities to Equity Partners Infrastructure Company Limited (EPIC).

This participation is to be made in two tranches, with the first tranche of NZ$7.5 million to be made once the terms of the participation have been agreed and the participation agreement formally documented.

The second tranche of NZ$6.5 million, to be made by 15 July 2011, is also subject to PGC obtaining a waiver from the NZX from Listing Rule 9.2.1. A waiver of this Listing Rule is required as EPIC and Torchlight (an investor in EPIC) are related parties of PGC.

The related party issue arises through, amongst other things, PGC being the owner of EPIC’s manager as well as the owner of Torchlight’s general partner. Although the participation has not yet been agreed with NAB, it is anticipated that this will be agreed within the next seven days.

The proposed participation will result in PGC holding a share in NAB’s first ranking facility, whereby interest received is paid out to both NAB and PGC on a pro rata basis, subject to the principal amount of PGC’s participation being subordinated behind NAB’s share and PGC’s interest component being subordinated on an event of default occurring.

PGC has agreed to support EPIC by looking to acquire the participation which it is proposed is made in place of EPIC’s obligation to make certain principal repayments on the NAB Facility. If agreed, the participation will allow EPIC to proceed with an orderly and early realization of assets with proceeds net of any costs applied to full repayment of the NAB facility.

PGC Chair Bryan Mogridge said that PGC’s proposed support, by looking to make the participation, not only assists EPIC as it moves to reduce debt and complete its restructuring but it also provides a favorable return to PGC investors in participating in a strong first registered security position over EPIC.

Pyne Gould Corporation Limited, through its subsidiaries, provides various commercial, consumer, and agricultural financial services in New Zealand. It operates in three segments: Financial Services, Trustee Services, and Rural Services.

Goldman Sachs currently owns 45% of GS&P. The remaining 55% is owned by current and former GS&P management and employee shareholders. The proposed acquisition, terms of which are not disclosed, ultimately requires a 75% minimum acceptance by shareholders and will also be subject to relevant regulatory approvals.

The investment will facilitate the full integration into Goldman Sachs of the Australian and New Zealand businesses which have operated as a joint venture since 2003.

Commenting on the acquisition, Lloyd C. Blankfein, Chairman and CEO of Goldman Sachs, said New Zealand and Australia represent an important part of the firm’s growth strategy. Blankfein said the investment underscores Goldman Sach’s desire to continue strengthening its Australasian client franchise.

Simon Rothery, Co-CEO of Goldman Sachs & Partners, on his part said the move to full ownership by Goldman Sachs is a natural progression for the business.

Stephen Fitzgerald, Co-CEO with Mr Rothery, added that full integration of the resources and strengths of Goldman Sachs and GS&P will further enhance the capabilities the firm brings to its clients and provide additional opportunities for its people.

The Australian and New Zealand businesses have operated as a joint venture after Goldman Sachs first bought a 45 percent stake in Australian brokerage JBWere Ltd. in 2003. Goldman Sachs JBWere, as the business was then known, changed its name to Goldman Sachs & Partners in 2009, after it sold the majority of its private client business to National Australia Bank.

Media reports in Australia have put the value of the entire business to be acquired at up to A$1.2 billion. The acquisition is expected to bolster Goldman Sach’s presence in New Zealand and Australia, as well as the Australasian expanse as a whole.

The Goldman Sachs Group, Inc. is leading global investment banking, securities and investment management firm that provides a wide range of financial services to a substantial and diversified client base that includes corporations, financial institutions, governments and high net-worth individuals. Founded in 1869, the firm is headquartered in New York and maintains offices in London, Frankfurt, Tokyo, Hong Kong and other major financial centers around the world.

Standard & Poor’s also withdrew its “BB+/Stable/B” rating for Canterbury Building Society and “BB/Stable/B” for Southern Cross, at the societies’ request, in preparation for them to be folded into a $2.2 billion entity which will hold all the shares in Pyne Gould Corp’s Marac Finance Ltd.

The new business, nominally Building Society Holdings, is expected to launch on Friday, and has proposed to list on the New Zealand Stock Exchange by February and to apply for a banking license in the middle of the year.

According to Peter Sikora, Standard & Poor’s credit analyst based in Melbourne, the creditors of the two building societies would benefit from the stronger credit profile of the combined building society as both had good franchises, stable funding bases, and good liquidity levels. Sikora added that moderating rating factors include their small capital bases and large commercial exposures relative to the capital levels.

Last year December, Sikora said the proposed new entity had the potential to be rated BBB- by Standard & Poor’s – the lowest investment grade – provided the financial impact of the Christchurch earthquake did not hurt the group’s credit position, among other factors.

On Wednesday, the New Zealand Treasury accepted Combined Building Society, the issuer for the merger of Marac, and the two building societies into the extended retail deposit guarantee for so-called “non-banks”.

Established at the height of the global financial crisis, the extended guarantee will cover $1.67 billion of retail funding – retail deposits at CBS and SCBS and stock and bonds at Marac – until the end of this year. It insures deposits and debt securities issued by up to $250,000 per retail depositor.

Marac will hold the majority of the new entity with 72.2 per cent, followed by CBS with 14.8 per cent and SCBS with the remaining 13 per cent. Pyne Gould’s funds management unit Perpetual Group – including cornerstone shareholder George Kerr’s distressed asset vehicle Torchlight Management Ltd – has not been included in the merger.

The approval is the latest of a number being sought this week. On Monday Southern Cross Building Society shareholders gave approval but a second meeting of depositers is being held. A special meeting of Pyne Gould shareholders and a special meeting of CBS Canterbury depositors will be held on Friday. The merger is expected to happen on January 7.

Pyne Gould Corporation’s shareholders voted overwhelmingly for the merger of its subsidiary Marac Finance with two building societies to form a $2.2 billion financial services group with aspirations to be a bank. CBS shareholders voted 90.45 percent in favour.

Today nearly 100 shareholders attended a special meeting in Christchurch to vote on the merger. The proposal was supported by 99.86 per cent of the votes cast. The resolution required majority support. Of PGC’s 773.5 million shares, 55 per cent or 428.62 million shares were voted. Of that 427.88 million were in favour, 608,563 against and 127,843 were abstentions.

Shareholders Association representative Max Smith gave the association’s endorsement and support of the merger saying it was in the best interest of shareholders and of New Zealanders in general. Smith asked what proportion of the 72.2 per cent of the shares in the merged entity, Building Society Holdings, PGC would distribute to its shareholders.

PGC chairman Bruce Irvine said a very substantial proportion of the shares PGC received in BSHL in exchange for Marac becoming part of the merged entity would be distributed to PGC’s 5000 shareholders. Irvine said the exact percentage had not been finally decided.

PGC would hold a minority interest for a time in BSHL and planned to sell those shares to institutions to continue to fund its remaining businesses. The merged entity is expected to be formed on January 7 and it is to list on the NZX in February. PGC shareholders, however, are not expected to receive their shares in BSHL till late March.

The other shareholders in the merging companies have also voted strongly for the merger at meetings this week of the CBS Canterbury Building Society, based in Ashburton, and at the Southern Cross Building Society based in Auckland. Votes of depositors and bondholders in the three entities are taking place in the second week in December. The merged entity intends to seek a banking license next year.