Hirepool is the latest company with trans-Tasman operations to settle a tax dispute with the Inland Revenue Department, forfeiting $58.6 million of tax losses generated by the use of mandatory convertible notes, one of two commonly used structures the IRD has successfully challenged in the New Zealand courts. The settlement, on June 9, is recorded in the prospectus for the …

The New Zealand dollar tested the 87 US cent level overnight for the second time since the Reserve Bank tightened monetary policy last week, as low volatility in currency markets kept the nation’s relative high interest rates in demand. The kiwi touched a high of 86.99 US cents overnight, a level it last tested on Friday morning after the Reserve Bank affirmed …

Wall Street eked out gains as merger and takeover activity outweighed concern about rising oil prices and escalating chaos in Iraq and an IMF downgrade in its US economic growth forecast. In the final hour of trading in New York, the Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 0.05 percent, the Standard & Poor’s 500 Index added 0.09 percent, while the Nasdaq …