The Australian Securities and Investments Commission has settled legal proceedings arising out of its investigation into the collapse of Storm Financial. This move follows an agreement by Bank of Queensland, Senrac Pty Ltd and Macquarie Bank to pay $1.1 million in compensation to Barry and Deena Doyle for financial losses arising from their investment in Storm. ASIC chairman Greg Medcraft said the regulator would continue in its efforts to achieve compensation for all former Storm investors. Last week, ASIC appealed the Federal Court's approval of a Storm class action settlement, in which 70 per cent of the members of the class would recover 18 per cent of their losses while the others, who contributed to the funding of the class action, would receive 42 per cent of their losses. A new Dun and Bradstreet index of consumer financial stress in New Zealand has found stress levels improved through early 2013 to their best level in almost a year, as unemployment fell and retail sales improved. The index measures consumer demand for credit and credit capacity.  "Financial stress is easing and consumers are regaining their appetite for new credit - although we expect that a cautious approach to spending is likely to continue for some time," said Dun and Bradstreet's general manager, Lance Crooks.