SO THE AUSSIE BANKS ARE HELPING FUND THE BANK DEPOSIT GUARANTEE

And they are none too pleased... From the Australian

AUSTRALIAN banks will be hit by a levy that could run into the tens of millions imposed by the New Zealand Government, for participating in its version of the bank deposit guarantee scheme.

The scheme is voluntary, but with the NZ Government-backed Kiwi Bank already opting in, the others have no choice but to do likewise.

The levy will only apply to banks with more than $5 billion in deposits, which just happens to be only the big four Australian banks, and will apply on 10 basis points on “total indebtedness” above that level.

Australian banks contacted this morning were still in talks with the NZ Finance Department to work out exactly how the scheme applies, but were not impressed.