Kiwi Rocky Lane’s ‘most legalistic’ forex trader, ‘Chaos’ warning on global tax regime, more electricity market failure

In NBR Print today: World Record holder, professional pool champion, headshot survivor, soon-to-be published author, with a movie deal likely to follow, and chief legal counsel for a multinational foreign exchange trader with more than 100,000 investors. Sounds impressive. New Zealander Wilfred Royce “Rocky” Lane claims to be all these things, and much, much more but he is most certainly a bankrupt, former third-year law student, working for a company Taiwanese authorities allege is a $145 million pyramid scheme. Hamish McNicol investigates.

The mix of local and global tax changes could cause tax administration “chaos,” a leading tax practitioner warns. In the first of a two-part series, Rob Hosking looks at a sweeping range of tax changes coming from Wellington.

A power supply shortage looming in 2019 looks engineered for corporate benefit, writes Tim Hunter. So what’s the Electricity Authority doing about it?

Meanwhile, Contact Energy [NZX:CEN] is wasting no time in selling its Otahuhu power station site. Sally Lindsay looks at the options for the 37ha site.

Many investors will be frustrated by sharemarkets that over-react to ephemeral developments in major trends such as the slowing of China’s economy and the pending rate rise in the US. Fortunately, as Nevil Gibson reports, some wise heads look beyond these to see what’s really happening.

In 12 full years of operation to June 2014 the New Zealand Venture Investment Fund has invested $131 million of taxpayers’ money and spent a further $23.7 million of government grant funding on its own activities. The question is whether that hefty expenditure is bearing fruit. Tim Hunter reports.

Shanghai Maling chairman Ma Yongjian has a three-year plan that includes Silver Fern Farms [U:SFF]. Shoeshine delves into the Chinese company’s past to see if it’s a good fit for New Zealand’s biggest meat processor.

Meanwhile, Fonterra [NZX:FCG] reports its results next week and after a disappointing half-year result analysts will be keeping a close eye on the co-operative’s debt levels. Jason Walls previews the result.

Technology editor Chris Keall focuses on online voting after highlighting how much paper ballots are costing the taxpayer. For example, of the $26 million being spent on the flag referendum for example, about $17 million will be spent on the mechanics of processing postal votes.

Kiwi Property Group [NZX:KPG] has been re-balancing its portfolio for a number of years and deliberately skewing it to more retail property and towards the Auckland market. But some of its investors would like to see it reduce its exposure to office property even more – one institutional investor suggests it would be a good idea to “do a Goodman,” or follow the Goodman Property Trust's [NZX:GMT] example and team up with a sovereign wealth fund. Jenny Ruth reports.

Meanwhile, some foreign investors will probably be deterred because prospective buyers won’t want to reveal their tax data, writes Michael Coote.

NBR Special Report: Executive development and education.

All this and more in today's NBR Print Edition. Out now.