Putting aside a possible appeal and the sentencing of former director Edward Sullivan, many expressed relief yesterday's verdicts would ''end the saga'' for Timaru and the wider community.
Justice Paul Heath yesterday said the Serious Fraud Office failed to prove its suggestion of an underlying culture of concealment in SCF between 2004 and 2010.
Former SCF chief executive Lachie McLeod and former director and accountant Robert White were cleared of all charges, while former director Edward Sullivan was found guilty on five of nine charges.
The verdicts were handed down yesterday by Justice Heath in the High Court at Timaru. The five-month trial concluded in August.
The case has been followed closely in the district of 44,000 people.
Some people spoken to knew Sullivan (72), McLeod (50) and White (70) and said they were ''pretty good people''.
Ray Teahen, of Timaru, believed, based on what he had read, the judge had delivered a reasonable verdict.
The failure of SCF had meant the prevailing economic mood in the area had not necessarily been upbeat, he said, and for any who knew the accused, it would have been a long, drawn out four years.
Mr Hubbard was once considered the South Island's richest man, with a fortune estimated by the National Business Review in 2008 to be $650 million. All that was wiped out with the receivership of SCF.
Mr Hubbard died in a car crash near Oamaru in September 2011 and the 50 charges he faced were later withdrawn by the SFO.
Keith McColl, visiting Timaru from Christchurch, said the company's collapse had caused ''a loss from every New Zealander'' because the Government had guaranteed deposits.
The verdicts offered the people of Timaru - whether they had been financially committed or not - some answers, but ''more importantly'', he said, they deserved to know about the late Mr Hubbard's involvement.
Mary Stringer, of Tekapo, said she and her husband had visited Timaru to sit in on various days of the trial.
For the South Canterbury community, yesterday's verdicts would give some closure, she said.
Last night, Mr Hubbard's daughter, Lesley Limbe, said she was pleased it was over.
''We are generally happy with the outcome, but we are saddened that Edward Sullivan has been found guilty on a few charges.
''We're happy that the other two have not been found guilty. That's good.
''I know my mother [Jean] will feel the same way.''
Sullivan was remanded on bail and will be sentenced on December 12. Justice Heath said he would call for home detention reports.
However, the judge told Sullivan that was not an indication he would avoid jail.
In his written judgement, Justice Heath said while the Crown's case relating to concealment did not ''withstand scrutiny'', two market phenomena had exposed the ''fragile capital structure on which South Canterbury operated and drove the directors to respond in a knee-jerk fashion''.
As a result, SCF was put into receivership in August 2010 owing around $1.6 billion. It was later bailed out under the Crown Retail Guarantee Scheme and only $800 million had been recovered so far.
''The absence of a robust loan authorisation process and a less than orthodox approach to debt impairment were contributing factors to the problems that South Canterbury faced when a major financial downturn occurred in mid to late 2008,'' the judge said.
The Serious Fraud Office laid charges against the three accused in December 2011 after a 14-month investigation. Most of the charges related to seven specific transactions South Canterbury entered into involving allegedly undisclosed, related party lending.
Justice Heath said he did not consider an examination of the seven transactions over a period of a little over five years provided a safe foundation for an allegation of continuous concealment from the public.
All three accused were also cleared of the most serious charge alleging they unlawfully obtained the benefit of the guarantee scheme by failing to disclose to the Crown the company had entered into related party lending. One of the five charges Sullivan was convicted of related to deceptive conduct while the other four concerned false statements made in prospectuses issued by South Canterbury Finance.
- Additional reporting BusinessDesk
