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Having been involved both directly and on the periphery of many trade negotiations over the past couple of decades, it is always intriguing to ferret around in the background to ascertain who is seeking to influence the process.? Who are the well-funded, ever present lobbyists with distinct commercial positions and a desire to advance their agenda at any cost?? Who …

New Zealand shares rose, led by Telecom as equity markets worldwide took heart from signs of progress on fiscal cliff talks in Washington that may help the US economy avoid recession. Tech stocks Diligent Board member Services and Xero both made new highs. The NZX 50 Index rose 12.76 points, or 0.3 percent, to 3979.25. Within the index, 19 stocks …

Telecom chief financial officer Nick Olson has left the second-biggest company on the stock exchange to take control of the finances of Fletcher Building, the biggest company on the bourse. Fletcher chief executive Mark Adamson said he was delighted Olson agreed to the join the company from April next year, replacing long-serving chief financial officer Bill Roest, who retires next …

The New Zealand dollar was little changed in local trading as traders await US talks to avert the US$600 billion fiscal cliff and after New Zealand’s Treasury pared back its growth forecasts. The kiwi traded at 84.42 US cents at 5pm in Wellington from 84.36 cents at 8.30am and 84.39 cents yesterday. The trade-weighted index was 75.26 from 75.27 yesterday. …

Sports Minister Murray McCully has labelled last year’s Rugby World Cup a success after independent research found it added $573 million to an otherwise tepid economy. The sporting event added 0.34 percent to New Zealand’s gross domestic product over the medium-term, or $573 million in 2007 dollar terms, and added some 7,840 part and full-time jobs, based on Market Economics …

The New Zealand Debt Management Office has expanded its programme for issuing bonds by $6.5 billion over the next four years and flagged it will sell a further $7 billion in debt the following year. The DMO will issue $14 billion in bonds in the 2012/13 year, an increase of $500 million from the budget, and sell an unchanged $10 …

The New Zealand’s government’s margin-of-error target to meet an operating surplus by 2015 has put spending on its biggest programmes under the gun, according to Finance Minister Bill English. The government plans to keep its spending programme in check as the deteriorating global economy puts its budget surplus at risk, singling out “long-term drivers of costs in areas such as …

adobe photoshop software download p> The New Zealand government is sticking to its 2015 target for getting its books back in black, but only just – with the Treasury forecasting an operating surplus before gains and losses (obegal) of just $66 million in the 2014/15 financial year, down from the $197 million buffer flagged in the May budget, according to …

The New Zealand Maori Council has been granted leave to appeal a High Court ruling dismissing its application for a review of Cabinet decisions relating to the sale of up to 49 percent of MightyRiverPower. In the Supreme Court today, Justices Sian Elias, John McGrath, William Young, Robert Chambers and Susan Glazebrook granted the council leave to appeal direct to …

Brokerage Forsyth Barr and firms associated with Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank have agreed to establish a $60 million settlement fund to compensate investors and pay $500,000 in costs over the disastrous NZX-traded Credit Sails notes. The settlement is part of a deal under which the Commerce Commission concludes its probe into the now-worthless notes and agrees not to …