Xero, the cloud-based accounting software developer, has appointed former Microsoft chief financial officer Chris Liddell as its new chairman and ex-PayPal executive Peter Karpas to lead its North American unit. The Wellington-based company’s appointment of Liddell as chair is effective from today, with ex-KiwiBank chief Sam Knowles resigning as chair and director. US-based Bill Veghte, who runs HP’s enterprise group, …

New Zealanders spent less on their credit and debit cards in January, snapping three months of gains, with apparel showing the sharpest decline. The value of electronic card spending on retail fell 0.5 percent to a seasonally adjusted $4.54 billion in January, according to Statistics New Zealand. Core retailing, which excludes spending on fuel and auto-related items, dropped 0.8 percent …

Tougher sentences handed out to former directors of Lombard Finance & Investments were part of a regime to protect investors, and a major factor in underlying the seriousness of the case, according to the Crown. Former Justice Ministers Doug Graham and Bill Jeffries, former PR man for the Queen Lawrie Bryant and Lombard’s ex-boss Michael Reeves were appealing to the …