Aussie banks pay US$1.5 bn to settle New Zealand tax avoidance cases

Wellington: New Zealand's four biggest banks have agreed to pay a total of New Zealand dollars 2.2 billion (US$1.5 billion) to settle the largest tax avoidance case in the country's history.

Revenue Minister Peter Dunne said Thursday the government was getting only 80 percent of the total owed by the banks, but welcomed the settlement as the end of a complicated five year legal battle on behalf of taxpayers.

The four Australian-owned banks, Westpac, Commonwealth Bank's ASB, National Australia Bank's BNZ, and ANZ Bank, carried out a series of so-called "structured finance transactions" between 1998 and 2005 that were challenged by tax officials.