Tasmanian-based financial services group MyState Ltd has been given a BBB rating by Standard & Poor's. The rating has been assigned to a wholly owned subsidiary, MyState Financial. MyState recently acquired The Rock Building Society, which has a BBB- rating. Westpac notified the Australian Securities Exchange yesterday that it had received a statement of claim that alleges certain exception fees it charged prior to October 2009 were unlawful. The bank says it intends to defend the proceedings. The class action, which started with proceedings against ANZ, now also includes Commonwealth Bank, National Australia Bank and Citibank. The New Zealand Treasury confirmed yesterday that its extended retail deposit guarantee scheme would end on December 31. The extended scheme has operated since October 2010 and originally covered seven financial institutions. Three institutions are still covered - Fisher & Paykel Financial Ltd, Heartland Building Society and the Wairarapa Building Society.