The New Zealand dollar climbed above 83 Australian cents for the first time since October 2009 as investors look for increasing returns on this side of the Ditch ahead of next week’s Australian central bank. The kiwi climbed to 83.02 Australian cents at 5pm in Wellington, near its 83.08 cents high, from 82.86 cents yesterday. The local currency gained to …

Former New Zealand Shareholders Association chairman Bruce Sheppard will face trial by judge alone after former Hanover Finance shareholders Mark Hotchin and Eric Watson succeeded in arguing their defamation case was too complex for a jury. Judge Mark Cooper ordered a trial by judge alone based on “the complexity of the issues that are likely to arise and the nature …

Westpac New Zealand has pulled back on its level of mortgage lending where it wears the bulk of the risk, amid increasingly volatile house prices. The lender has reduced its level of lending above an 80 percent loan-to-value ratio (LVR) to about 21 percent from about 22 percent a year after house prices in Auckland and Christchurch rose at a …