Australians are among angry bitcoin users taking legal action to recover millions of dollars in cash and virtual currency lost when Japan’s Mt Gox exchange crashed in February. The Australian can reveal that at least two Australians are part of a class action being prepared by London legal firm Selachii aimed at recovering lost money and bitcoin. Australians also are among those who have lost hundreds of bitcoins. Coffs Harbour-based Pantelis Roussakis said he had lost 222 bitcoins.

A tough retail environment has claimed another victim, with the collapse of an 80-year-old family-owned jewellery store chain, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Bevilles, which employs about 477 people across 27 stores, has entered voluntary administration.More than half its staff reportedly face redundancy. The retail sector has been hit with a wave of collapses since the financial crisis, especially in fashion, including stores such as Brown Sugar, Bettina Liano, Ed Harry, Ojay, Colorado, Snowgum and Fletcher Jones.

A disproportionate number of ACT companies, including those in construction, are going broke because they are under-capitalised, according to liquidator Eddie Senatore, who has more than 25 years' experience in insolvency, The Canberra Times reported. This occurs when a company cannot afford operational expenses because of a lack of capital. For the ACT, the problem accounts for 16 per cent of insolvencies, almost twice the national average at 9 per cent.

A disproportionate number of ACT companies, including those in construction, are going broke because they are under-capitalised, according to liquidator Eddie Senatore, who has more than 25 years' experience in insolvency, The Canberra Times reported. This occurs when a company cannot afford operational expenses because of a lack of capital. For the ACT, the problem accounts for 16 per cent of insolvencies, almost twice the national average at 9 per cent.

National Australia Bank Ltd. (NAB) fell in Sydney trading after flagging a possible increase in provisions at its British operations, overshadowing a 7 percent increase in first-quarter profit, Bloomberg News reported. Shares of Australia’s biggest bank by assets slid as much as 2.8 percent, the biggest intraday decline in three months, and traded 1.9 percent lower at A$34.50 at 11:53 a.m. in Sydney. Provisions for some tailored business loans and compensation to U.K. customers for wrongly sold payment-protection insurance may rise, the Melbourne-based lender said in a statement today.

Australia’s unemployment rate climbed to the highest in more than 10 years in January, spurring traders to pare bets on an interest-rate increase and sending the Aussie to its biggest drop in almost three weeks. The jobless rate rose to 6 percent from 5.8 percent, the statistics bureau said in Sydney. The median estimate was an increase to 5.9 percent in a Bloomberg News survey of economists. The number of people employed fell by 3,700. International carmakers Toyota Motor Corp., General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co.

Insolvency firm Ferrier Hodgson has been appointed as voluntary administrator by the board of bankrupt contractor Forge Group, sources close to the situation told The Australian Financial Review's Street Talk. The next step is that lender ANZ Banking Group will take control by appointing KordaMentha as receiver. ANZ extended Forge an additional $11 million line of credit in the past fortnight, which was being used to pay Forge employees and for other working capital expenses.

The ANZ bank has sold about $200 million of debt owed to it by failed Tasmanian timber company Gunns, The West Australian reported. The bank was the lead creditor when Gunns collapsed in 2012. ANZ says it is no longer part of the Gunns banking syndicate and is not involved in providing finance for the proposed Tamar Valley pulp mill. The sale happened in last September before expressions of interest were called for Gunns' assets, including the pulp mill project.

Australia’s four largest banks will need to carry an extra 1 percent of core tier 1 capital from Jan. 1, 2016, due to their systemically important status, according to the country’s banking regulator, Bloomberg News reported yesterday. Australia & New Zealand Banking Group Ltd., Commonwealth Bank of Australia, National Australia Bank Ltd. and Westpac Banking Corp. need to have a greater capacity to absorb losses, the Australian Prudential Regulation Authority (APRA) said in a statement yesterday.

Around 60 staff have lost their jobs at the Australian Ksubi fashion label, which has been placed under receivership, The Australian reported. The trendy street brand was founded by George Garrow and Dan Single in 1999 and worn by the likes of supermodel Miranda Kerr and celebrity Nicole Richie. On Tuesday, it was placed under the receivership of advisory firm Jirsch Sutherland. In a statement, Jirsch Sutherland said it was assessing the label's financial position, including "necessary rationalisation of overheads including staff at head office".