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The collapse of South Canterbury Finance (SCF) is one of the biggest New Zealand stories of the last decade. The sweep of events, from Timaru to the Beehive, includes some of the most revealing moments on issues critical to this country – from poor governance and systemic issues in the finance sector, through to the structural risks this exposed and the costs it ultimately presented to all New Zealanders. The Billion Dollar Bonfire sets out to tell this story from an “insider” perspective. Chris Lee is a long-standing New Zealand financial advisor and a protagonist in the narrative. He knew Allan Hubbard personally and, from the late 1990s, had clients invest with SCF. This is a book written with passion and purpose. As Lee makes plain, this could all happen again unless significant changes are made to our law and the culture of the capital markets industry. So the book is underpinned by substantial research: thousands of documents (including new material from OIAs and other sources) and interviews, both public and anonymous, with many of the key figures.

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