A 25-year-old solar energy company has collapsed into voluntary administration, letting go a number of staff, but administrators say proposals on the table to recapitalise the business could offer the company a lifeline. CBD Energy is the latest in a long string of solar companies to fold this year, with commentators labelling the industry a “roller coaster” market. A second meeting of creditors will be held next week on December 19, with Grant Thornton Australia’s Trevor Mark Pogroske and Said Jahani acting as administrators, after being appointed on November 14.

Australia’s major banks should set aside more capital to ensure they can survive a repeat of the global financial crisis, a government-backed review recommended on Sunday, the International New York Times reported. Bank executives have been bracing for the Financial System Inquiry report for months, arguing that higher levels of capital are unnecessary and would come at a cost to the economy.

Australian food franchise Pie Face has collapsed into voluntary administration. In a statement released to SmartCompany, the Pie Face Group confirmed Jirsch Sutherland has been appointed as administrators. However, Pie Face said it is “business as usual” as the administrators conduct a review of the chain’s operations. “The move comes as part of a wider company review, which will see the company focus on supporting the growth of its franchise-operated stores as well as the wholesale business,” Pie Face said. “The international businesses are not affected”.

The parent company of Australia’s largest privately owned milk processing company, United Dairy Power (UDP) has been placed in receivership after its banker moved to remove its board and appoint a new CEO to manage its debts, The Australian reported. Insolvency firm PPB and the dairy company’s financier, Rabobank, appointed Marcus Derwin as managing director of Five Star United Food — which controls UDP — last week on the same day the dairy company was placed in receivership.

Australia could face its first recession in almost 25 years unless authorities further stimulate the economy, Morgan Stanley said. The nation’s economy will expand just 1.9 percent in 2015, with 1.5 percentage points of that coming from higher exports, and unemployment will climb to 6.8 percent, Morgan Stanley economists led by Daniel Blake said in a research report today. They project the currency will fall to 76 U.S. cents by the end of next year from 87.37 cents at 11:10 a.m. in Sydney.

Iron-ore junior Pluton Resources is battling receivership after junior Chinese creditor Rizhao Port Group appointed receivers and managers, prompting fellow-listed Watpac to suspend an existing mining services contract at the Cockatoo Island project, Mining Weekly reported. Pluto told shareholders on Monday that the receivers and its solicitors had refused the company’s requests for details of the appointment.

Multiple major client losses have forced Sumo Visual Group, one of Australia’s biggest retail signage printers, into administration, only six months after making a big kit investment, ProPrint reported. The $30m-a-year 60-staff company with operations in Melbourne and Sydney entered voluntary administration on Tuesday under PPB Advisory. Sources close to the company say a big retail client recently jumped ship to a competitor while another switched out the vast majority of its work, and resulting cashflow issues led to the printer’s predicament.

Australian central bank officials said possible steps to cool the nation’s housing market wouldn’t necessarily be limited to investor lending curbs.

Plunging iron ore prices have dealt their first blow in Australia, sending fledgling miner Western Desert Resources Ltd into administration after it failed to reach a deal with bankers over its debt, Reuters reported. Western Desert was caught out by a move by the world's top four iron ore producers to flood the market with low-cost supply, outpacing Chinese demand growth for the steel-making ingredient and slashing iron ore prices by 38 percent this year.

Australia has stepped up scrutiny of the tax practices of multinationals suspected of using complex accounting arrangements to minimize their liabilities, The Wall Street Journal reported. Tony Abbott's conservative government Thursday ordered aggressive audits and detailed investigations into their accounting, aiming to set an example for other wealthy nations at a meeting of Group of 20 finance ministers in Cairns later this month.