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Equities dropped, while US Treasuries rose amid a safe-haven search, on concern Greece is headed for default and exit from the euro zone. Greece closed its banks and imposed capital controls, after negotiations between Greece and its international creditors imploded after Prime Minister Alexis Tsipras issued a stunning call for a July 5 referendum on the latest bailout conditions. The …

Today in Auckland the US NZ Partnership Forum gathers for the sixth time. The event brings together a number of senior representatives from Government, business and academia from both New Zealand and the United States. Our American guests include Assistant Secretary of State Danny Russel and Congressman Erik Paulsen (R-Minnesota). Significant progress has been made since the first Partnership Forum was …

Pengxin International executive Terry Lee has confirmed the company will seek an extension to its funding lines for the Lochinver farm acquisition. The funding lines were due to expire today. But late yesterday the company had still not received any feedback from the Overseas Investment Office since Pengxin’s application went to Cabinet Ministers Paula Bennett and Louise Upston just before …

Research out today shows that while getting a government research and development grant almost doubles the likelihood a company will introduce a world-first innovation, there’s also evidence Kiwi firms are not good at commercialising their clever ideas. The government’s Business Growth Agenda targets increasing business expenditure on R&D, which is low by OECD standards, to 1 percent of gross domestic product by …

Pushpay Holdings has confirmed it is eligible for a $960,000 research and development grant from Callaghan Innovation that will help mobile payments app developer scale up the platform that allows US church congregations to easily make donations. “This funding provides additional resources to deliver scale and growth in the Pushpay platform through the development of new features, new markets, and scalable engineering processes and …

NZUS Council chairman Simon Power has welcomed delegates to the sixth United States New Zealand Partnership Forum opening this evening in Auckland. “I would like to formally welcome our guests to New Zealand for this event, and thank them for their attendance and support,” says Power. “This biennial event is an opportunity to bring together senior representatives of Government, academia, business …

The latest papal encyclical is “offensive”, “infuriating” and “drivel” in its commentary on the operation of markets, says Oliver Hartwich, a self-professed Catholic and executive director of the New Zealand Initiative, a libertarian think tank. The Laudato Si encyclical – a communication to bishops setting out the Pope’s views on a chosen set of issues – was published by Pope Francis to global …

Ngati Whatua, a member of the Tamaki Makaurau Collective, has filed a statement of claim in the High Court at Auckland over the government’s decision not to offer land earmarked for housing development to the iwi first. The iwi is seeking a judicial review of recent decisions around the Auckland Crown Land Programme, and Moire Road property in particular, it said in …

New Zealand’s 2014/15 wool season ended this week with what is expected to be the smallest percentage of the clip sold through auctions in at least seven years, as more farmers were attracted to the premium prices and protection from commodity price volatility offered in private sales. The auction system’s share of wool is expected to continue to shrink. An estimated 464,000 bales are expected to come …

New Zealand shares rose as Meridian Energy and MightyRiverPower rebounded from recent lows. Diligent Corp and Fisher & Paykel Healthcare advanced as the kiwi dollar fell. The S&P/NZX 50 Index rose 22.16 points, or 0.4 percent, to 5755.45. Within the index, 25 stocks rose, 15 fell and 10 were unchanged. Turnover was $118 million. Energy companies rallied after coming under selling pressure on concern the possible closure …