The Tasmanian timber company Gunns has rejected reports an insolvency firm has been inspecting its books, ABC News reported. Gunns says it has hired the firm KordaMentha to provide advice on the sale of some of it woodchip processing assets. Newspaper reports claim the insolvency specialists were appointed by lender ANZ to examine Gunns' finances. Gunns has revealed an $800 million devaluation of a range of assets because of a fall in global woodchip process, leaving its balance sheet in the red.

Defence technology company Metal Storm has been placed in voluntary administration. The company today said it had appointed Adam Shepard and Adam Farnsworth of Dean-Willcocks Shepard Recovery & Strategy as administrators, The Sydney Morning Herald reported. Metal Storm said it was hoped its business could be restructured or sold as a going concern. No details were given about the future of the company's workers.

Platinum Australia (PLA), the ASX-listed platinum miner with all its operations in SA, has now sought refuge from its creditors in voluntary administration. That means there could be some assets up for grabs for mining companies still in the ring, the Financial Mail reported. One of those is African Rainbow Minerals (ARM), Patrice Motsepe's diversified mining company, which is PLA's partner in the advanced Kalplats exploration project, 330km west of Johannesburg.

On July 1, the Gillard government quietly slipped through a set of laws designed to crack down on phoenix companies - those that collapse one day with a pile of debts and, like the bird in Greek mythology, rise from the ashes with the same assets and customers using a slightly different name. The fraudulent practice enables them to avoid taxes, wages and other bills, The Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The corporate regulator is claiming success with its crackdown on the insolvency profession and says it will continue to be a key area of focus, The Australian reported. The Australian Securities & Investments Commission has broken new ground by issuing its first annual report into the insolvency industry, identifying and describing recent enforcement actions in the wake of being granted additional funding to increase surveillance.

Australia's slowing economy was given a shot in the arm Tuesday when the central bank cut a hefty half-percentage point from official interest rates, signaling a shift in its focus away from fighting inflation and toward safeguarding growth amid an uncertain global outlook, The Wall Street Journal reported.

Embattled miner Kagara has gone into voluntary administration after failing to meet its debt obligations, putting up to 325 jobs at risk, The Australian. The Perth company announced yesterday it had appointed Taylor Woodings as voluntary administrator after suspending its shares from trading last week because it had failed to refinance a $40 million debt facility with ANZ. Administrator Michael Ryan said the administration process would provide the company and stakeholders with breathing space and protection to make decisions about the future in a considered way.

National Australia Bank illustrated the tough market facing sellers of UK banking assets on Monday, scrapping plans for a sale of its British banking operations and saying it would instead shrink them by cutting 1,400 jobs, Reuters reported. The Australian bank, which operates 337 Clydesdale and Yorkshire bank branches, looked at a number of options including a sale or expansion but decided neither was realistic given the UK's return to recession last week.

Australia is ready to help beef up the International Monetary Fund's war chest but needs to see a firm commitment from Europe's leaders to tackle the crisis in their region, Deputy Prime Minister and Treasurer Wayne Swan said in an interview. "We have to ensure from a global perspective that the IMF has the resources that it requires to deal with any challenges in the future," Mr. Swan told Dow Jones Newswires and The Wall Street Journal Wednesday ahead of the spring meetings of the fund and the World Bank this week in Washington D.C. Mr.

Julia Gillard has put the onus on the Reserve Bank to bring down interest rates to boost the economy, arguing that Labor has delivered on spending cuts and a budget surplus and there is now room for monetary policy to play a role, The Australian reported. The Prime Minister will tell a business audience in Perth Thursday that cutting interest rates to boost struggling sectors of the economy would be fully consistent with the Reserve Bank's obligations to "best contribute to economic prosperity and full employment".