A South Devon town is topping the list of places in the UK for the number of insolvencies.

Torquay continues to top the list as the town with the highest rate of personal insolvencies, with cases recorded in 17 in every 10,000 households, representing a six per cent increase on the same period last year.

It was joined in the top 25 list by Plymouth with 11 per 10,000 household going into insolvency.

The two Devon towns are the only one in the Westcountry to be on the national list wit…

Read the full article at: http://www.westernmorningnews.co.uk/Torquay-Plymouth-25-UK-insolvency-list/story-28368723-detail/story.html

The Prime Ministers announcement on Monday 7 December of a National Innovation and Science Agenda is a welcome development. However, the challenge will be for the government to turnaround our National Innovation System (NIS) which has been steadily in decline for some time.

As outlined in the Prime Ministers statement, Australia has many world class businesses, universities and research organisations. However, Australia ranks at the bottom of the OECD group of advanced nations in relation to university-industry collaboration. We also lag in terms of our spending on R&D. For example, Australia spends around 2.13% of GDP on R&D compared to the OECD average of 2.63%. As a benchmark South Korea spends 4.15% of GDP on R&D.

In the …

Read the full article at: http://theconversation.com/will-the-national-innovation-and-science-agenda-deliver-australia-a-world-class-national-innovation-system-52081

The promotion company behind the cancelled Echo Festival in
Auckland has gone into liquidation, and those waiting for
ticket refunds still have no assurance they will get their
money back anytime soon.

A message posted on the Echo Festival NZ Facebook page this
afternoon said the festival’s promoting company had been
placed into liquidation.

“After a long and what now seems pointless struggle it is
with deep disappointment we must announce that it has been
resolved to place the festival’s promoting company into
liquidation,” the message stated.

“The festival and its advisers have been trying hard to
…

Read the full article at: http://www.odt.co.nz/entertainment/music/367023/festival-promotion-company-liquidation

Sentry Group, the owners of Sentry Financial Planning, have announced they are restructuring their business and management positions following the acquisition of Wealthsure into the organisation.

The restructure includes the establishment of four core divisions and functions business development, business solutions, compliance, and corporate services.

Daniel Parry has been appointed as head of business development and chief investment officer, David Newman has been appointed head of business solutions and executive director, Hanna Abdullah has been appointed head of compliance and CRO, while Bryan Hills has been appointed head of corporate services and executive director.

The firm said it will maximise its scale as a non-institutionally al…

Read the full article at: http://www.moneymanagement.com.au/news/financial-planning/sentry-group-announces-business-restructure

Woolies and Qantas in loyalty rejig

Woolworths loyalty card members will be able to swap grocery discounts for Qantas Frequent Flyer points after the retailer, under pressure from customers, reached a new partnership agreement with the airline. The Fin

Legal threat to Apex directors

Apex Minerals liquidator Bryan Hughes plans to launch legal action against the collapsed gold producers former directors over claims the Wiluna miner was insolvent for almost two years before receivers were appointed. The West

Nurofen fined over misleading pain claims

The manufacturer of Nurofen faces millions of dollars in fines but will be allowed to sell painkillers marketed as targeting specific types of pain for another 12 months after a court found…

Read the full article at: https://www.businessnews.com.au/article/Morning-Headlines-621

DAVIE, FL–(Marketwired – Dec 14, 2015) – Trunity Holdings, Inc. (OTCBB: TNTY) (OTCQB: TNTY) (“Trunity“), a pioneer of eLearning technology solutions that transform the educational experience, today announced a comprehensive restructuring plan that will result in the spin-out of its education related businesses into a private company owned by its shareholders. In conjunction with the spin out, it intends to reshape its capital structure following a conversion of the majority of its $4 million in debt into equity. Lastly, it has acquired a new business start-up, Newco4Pharmacy, LLC, that intends to acquire a series of compounding pharmacy operations.

The restructuring plan was approved by Trunity’s Board of Directors after review of it…

Read the full article at: http://www.stockhouse.com/news/press-releases/2015/12/14/trunity-announces-restructuring-plan-and-business-spin-out

Cruz called on his “#CruzCrew” to help the governor pay off his nearly $1 million campaign debt, tweeting a snippet from a Walker fundraising email soliciting donations to cover “unavoidable campaign debt.”

#CruzCrew – I stand with my friend @ScottWalker & hope you will too! https://t.co/tX7axrEHdR pic.twitter.com/Z2txgGBhFq

Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) December 14, 2015

In bold type, the email calls paying off the debt “the only thing to do,” and promises those contributing at least $30 a limited edition lap…

Read the full article at: http://talkingpointsmemo.com/livewire/ted-cruz-scott-walker-campaign-debt

At a time when the right-wing in this nation gets energized from politicians who advocate border walls, another Middle Eastern ground invasion and the banning of Muslims from entering the U.S., left-wing candidates and legislators are trying to appeal to voters with a very different idea: debt-free college.

Earlier this month, 10 legislators in 10 states said that theyd introduce legislation to make college debt-free for students. According to this Dec. 7 story from Marketplace, The push is being organized by the Progressive Change Campaign Committee, which advocates for expanding Social Security, Wall Street regulation, campaign finance regulation and lowering student debt.

Hawaii is one of those 10 states, and the legislation will …

Read the full article at: http://mauitime.com/news/politics/can-maui-rep-kaniela-ing-help-bring-about-debt-free-college/

Gold Coast financier Peter Drake. Photo: Louie Douvis

Alleged union fraudsters such as Kathy Jackson and the heads of some of Australia’s largest collapsed financiers could be key beneficiaries of reforms to bankruptcy laws proposed by the Turnbull government. 

The  federal government on Monday launched reforms to make it easier to bounce back from a business failure, including changing the default period for personal bankruptcies from one year to three years. 

It unclear whether the bankruptcy reforms, which are expected to be legislated in mid-2017, will apply retrospectively to existing bankrupts as the gov…

Read the full article at: http://www.smh.com.au/business/banking-and-finance/caution-over-bankruptcy-and-insolvency-law-changes-20151207-glhb65.html

College was supposed to be a stepping stone to a better life for Jessica King. Instead, her decision several years ago to go to school and train to become a medical assistant has left her mired in debt that she cant escape.

King, 33, has about $32,000 in student loans from the nine months she spent attending a college multiple government agencies and la…

Read the full article at: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/why-some-defrauded-college-students-cant-get-debt-relief-2015-12-14

Baby goods retailer in NSW falls into voluntary administration

My Baby Warehouse NSW operates 11 outlets in New South Wales, the company is continuing to trade but they have stopped issuing gift cards, refunds, and lay-bys.

Robert Kite and Ozem Kassem were appointed as administrators on the 10^th of December.  The first creditor meeting will be held on the 21^st of September.

The voluntary administration does not cover every My Baby Warehouse store in New South Wales, with the Bankstown and Campbelltown My Baby Warehouse stores not being included in the voluntary administration.  These stores will continue to operate normally.

Also excluded from the administration are all of the My Baby Warehouse stores operating in other states or territories.

BHP share price hits 10 year low

The BHP share price has continued to drop after recently hitting lows not seen since the Global Financial Crisis.

Shares reached GFC level in September this year, there was a brief recovery in early October but the price has continued to slide since then.

BHP Billiton is currently sitting at around $16.69, the lowest price since May 2005.

Poor commodity prices are being blamed for the company’s lacklustre performance this year.