Dr Michael Cullen, Finance Minister at the time of the scheme's introduction said, "The deposit guarantee is designed to give assurance to New Zealand depositors.
We want to ensure that ordinary New Zealanders feel that their deposits are safe in the current uncertain international financial market conditions.
"[1] The scheme guaranteed that the New Zealand Government would repay those who lost money in failed financial institutions.
It was implemented on 12 October 2008, administered by Treasury and the Reserve Bank and at its height resulted in Crown guarantees over $133 billion.
This resulted in the Crown bailing out investors, paying $2 billion to more than 42,000 depositors.