A fifth report on the liquidation of Wishbone has raised the possibility that action could be taken against company directors after indications the company had been trading while insolvent for several months prior to liquidation in New Zealand, during which time it racked up debts it was unable to pay back, The Post reported. And, liquidator Mohammed Jan said, there would also be investigations into whether payments to certain creditors and related parties were voidable, or able to be clawed back. By law payments made when a company is insolvent can be voided in this way.
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New Zealand late on Sunday welcomed the United States' announcement that it ​would remove additional tariffs on a range of New Zealand ‌agricultural products, including beef, offal and kiwi fruit, but said it ‌would like to see all the additional U.S. tariffs on New Zealand goods removed, Reuters reported. President Donald Trump on Friday removed tariffs he had imposed on more than 200 food products, including beef, ⁠amid consumer concerns about ‌rising U.S. grocery prices. The products represent around 25% of New Zealand's ‍exports to the U.S.
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The New Zealand dollar and interest rate swaps tumbled in the wake of the move that took the official cash rate to 2.5%, as investors bet on more stimulus in the coming months to shore up demand and buffer the economy from rising global headwinds, Reuters reported. “The Committee reached consensus to reduce the official cash rate by 50 basis points to 2.5 percent,” the Reserve Bank of New Zealand said in its accompanying policy statement.
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The Reserve Bank of New Zealand has established a new committee for the conduct of financial policy, giving it power over issues around financial stability and prudential issues for banks, the Wall Street Journal reported. The Financial Policy Committee will set debt-to-income and loan-to-value ratios for banks, thus giving it enormous power over the country’s housing sector. The FPC will consist of the RBNZ board chair, the central bank’s governor, and three other RBNZ board members, with up to two members who aren’t RBNZ board members or employees of the RBNZ.
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New Zealand’s Institute of IT Professionals has discovered it is insolvent and advised members it has no alternative but to enter liquidation, TheRegister.com reported. The Institute (ITP) wrote to members on Thursday and posted a document titled “Important Update on ITP’s Future” that reveals it has “reached a point where the organization cannot continue. After a full review of our finances, the Board has confirmed that ITP is insolvent.” Insolvency seems to have come as something of a surprise. “These debts are historic. They go back over many years.
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