The fire that turned the Offset Alpine Printing Group into an insurance
cash machine is still on ASIC’s agenda despite Rene Rivkin’s death,
reports Neil Chenoweth in the Fin Review. And
it may even have boosted the corporate regulator’s chances of
retrieving documents from Swiss authorities relating to the
controversial ownership of Offset Alpine shares linked to Trevor
Kennedy and Graham Richardson, reports Anne Lampe in the Sydney Morning Herald.
It’s understood that appeals from at least two players in the affair
have prevented Swiss authorities from handing over the documents.

Also in the SMH, under the heading “Pity the poor man”, Ian Verrender
writes of Rivkin: “For all the platitudes from his friends, and there
were many, and the grief suffered by his family, and there is much, the
bewildering fact remains that despite his dazzling brilliance, he will
be remembered as a lonely old man deprived of his social standing, who
took his life rather than face the consequences of his actions”.

Orica
shares were dumped after the company outed itself as the victim of a
trifecta of forces afflicting the Australian economy – capacity
constraints, higher materials costs and the domestic economic slowdown,
reports The Australian.
The chemical and explosives manufacturer’s half-yearly report shows
hairline cracks in its amazing growth story, says Robert Gottliebsen in
the Oz.

And there’s still some bemusement, and a
degree of scepticism and cynicism about the decision by Industry Funds
Management to engage in a bidding duel for control of the renewable
energy group Pacific Hydro, says Stephen Bartholomeusz in The Age.

Former
Village Roadshow director Peter Ziegler has admitted he ordered a $5
million performance bonus to be paid into a charitable trust so he
could avoid paying income tax, reports the AFR. Ziegler’s court case against Village for $76 million in termination bonuses plus ongoing benefits continues.

In
Omaha, legendary investor Warren Buffett has defended his role in the
controversial reinsurance deal that contributed to the collapse of HIH
Insurance, reports the SMH. Buffett
said he was aware of the transaction at the time and had looked at FAI
and decided there was nothing unusual about the company.

US
stocks ended higher on Wall Street overnight as the market readied
itself for the Federal Reserve’s meeting on interest rates tonight,
with the Dow Jones Industrial Average posting back-to-back gains for
the first time in more than three weeks – up 59.19 points at 10,251.70.
MarketWatch has more here.