Last week the Australian Securities and Investments Commission fired a shot across the bows of insolvency companies, The Weekly Times reported. In forcing Tony Matthews, of ­Anthony Matthews and Associates, into an “enforceable undertaking” ­arrangement, ASIC has effectively placed all insolvency practitioners on notice that creditors have every right to expect prompt, efficient, diligent and judicious action in relation to companies in financial strife.

The government has argued that the recommendations made by the Productivy Commission to change insolvency laws will foster more entrepreneurship and aid innovation, SkyNews.com.au reported. The default bankruptcy period will be reduced from three years to one while a safe harbour will protect directors from personal liability for insolvent trading if they appoint a professional restructuring adviser to develop a plan to turnaround a company in financial difficulty.

An IT distribution company that has operated for almost 20 years has collapsed into voluntary administration, SmartCompany.com.au reported. Altech Computers was established in 1997 and has offices and warehouses in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Perth, Auckland and Hong Kong. The business featured in BRW’s Fast 100 for several years between 2004 and 2006, coming in at number 100 in 2005 with turnover of more than $63 million for the 2004-05 financial year. Altech Computers was also named Microsoft’s Australian distribution partner of the year in 2008.

Canberra building subcontractors left tens of millions of dollars out of pocket by insolvencies and payment disputes are hoping and praying a Senate Committee will come to their rescue, The Canberra Times reported. The report of the Senate's Economics References Committee inquiry into insolvency in the construction industry is due to be tabled on Thursday afternoon. Wayne Richards said his Queanbeyan based Erincole Building Services lost more than $1 million in a dispute with the John Holland Group, the lead contractor on the National Portrait Gallery.

The Norwegian mining subsidiary of Australia's Northern Iron Ltd will file for bankruptcy on Wednesday as its $100 million debt has become unsustainable, Northern Iron told a new conference on Wednesday. Attempts to find new investors for the Sydvaranger Gruve AS mining firm, which has close to 400 employees, had also failed, it added. The two largest creditors were top Norwegian bank DNB and government investment agency Innovation Norway, Northern iron said.

Higher mortgage rates for millions of homeowners are shaking consumer confidence and raising the likelihood that Australia’s central bank will cut rates before the end of the year to help stave off a recession, The Wall Street Journal reported. The consumer squeeze stems from moves by commercial banks this month to raise lending rates to recover the cost of a new regulatory requirement to set aside more capital.

A health service provider that was turning over approximately $1.2 million has collapsed into voluntary administration, SmartCompany.com.au reported. Fitgenes was incorporated in 2009 and provides personalised health care using a patient’s genetic predispositions when it comes to fitness, health and nutrition. The Fitgenes Group operates a clinic in Perth and as of September 2014, was working with 350 clinics and more than 470 practitioners who use the company’s proprietary cloud-based software.

The mobile division of consumer data startup Yatango has entered voluntary administration. According to records from the Australian Securities and Investments Commission, Yatango Mobile (Australia) entered voluntary administration on September 29. Hugh Armenis and Katherine Barnet of Bentleys Corporate Recovery have been appointed to manage the administration. The appointment was made under section 436C of the Corporations Act, which allows an individual to enforce a security interest in an entire company or a substantial part of a company.

The Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) has suspended the credit licence of PAID International Ltd until April next year because it is insolvent and stopped providing loans, ABC News reported. An external administrator was appointed in January this year and the company kept trading. Last year, the administrator agreed to repay nearly $1 million to 6,650 customers who paid excessive fees on more than 20,000 loans. The company, which used to be called First Stop Money, has so far refunded nearly $240,000 of that money to consumers under an agreement with ASIC.

Loss-making Fortitude Valley-based energy and mining contractor WDS has gone into receivership, The Australian reported. The appointment by WDS’s major secured creditor, GE Commercial, of Quentin Olde and John Park from FTI Consulting as receivers and managers raises job fears for a workforce of 730. The appointment follows WDS requesting a trading halt on August 25 on the basis that it had a contractual issue with one of its customers, the management company for the Vale-led Eagle Downs coal project in Queensland’s Bowen Basin.