The Independent, 6 December 2000

front page:

-creditors are claiming $28.5 million from bankrupt former would-be Britomart developer Jihong Lu, far more than was declared in an Official Assignee report on Jihong’s finances in which his lawyers declared his total liabilities at $3 million. Jihong is allegedly still driving his late model Beemer, but the OA is trying to find out if it belongs to him or to one of his companies;

-Scottish whiskey trade afficionados are warning against expectations that investing in hogsheads of whiskey - on offer by mail order from a Sydney firm - will yield a return;

-NZ Dairy Board submissions to limit the reach of new OECD-consistent anti-bribery law have succeeded. An exporter who uses bribery to get a deal will have to done at least some of the bribing while on New Zealand soil;

elsewhere in the paper:

-slow-paying by firms is on the rise, with average payment delay rising from 53.6 days to 55.8 days since the beginning of the year, according to Dun & Bradstreet;

-Paul Swain opts to rewrite parts of the Personal Securities Act which were amended only last month, after outcry from commentators, business, and legal community. Amendments will be taked onto the Business Law Reform Bill as an SOP, early next year;

-Portage Lodge in Marlborough Sounds to be redeveloped by new owners as a top luxury destination;

-international creditors seeking $US20 million in unpaid claims line up against Auckland based International Casualty & Surety, which operated here under light regulation while offering insurance in the US, South, and Latin America;

-hard on the heels of Kosher, Maori, and organic apples comes a bid to ENZA for independent export of halal apples;

-Wellington merchant bank recommends public listing for ENZA;

-Waterfront Workers’ Union and Tauranga-based Mainland Stevedoring move their battle to Timaru today, as the company starts using North Island crews to load logs for export;

-new technology park on Auckland University’s Tamaki campus close to fruition;

-US aviation unions throw spanner into works of APEC open skies agreement announced last month between NZ, Singapore, Chile, Brunei, and the US;

-Parliament’s law and order select committee backs down on attempts to make Serious Fraud Office head David Bradshaw release Crown Law opinions relating to his decision not to prosecute parties to the Magnum “winebox” deal;

-Waltus wins against objectors to its consolidation of its property investment vehicles, as values of Waltus investment units continues to fall;

-Lockwood Smith and Roger Sowry seen as front-runners for Nats’deputy leadership;

-global airline alliances will kill international competition, says president and chief exec of the world’s largest travel agency;

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