Four banks win judicial review of SFO’s order June 20, 2012 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office suffered a fresh knock yesterday as four banks won a court case blocking its attempts to seize documents linked to a derivatives probe in Italy. JP Morgan, Deutsche Bank, UBS and Depfa Bank won a judicial review against the SFO and the home secretary, quashing the watchdog’s request for papers that [...]
SFO drops investigation into Vincent Tchenguiz June 18, 2012 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office (SFO) was yesterday forced into an embarrassing climbdown after dropping a high-profile fraud investigation into flamboyant property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz. The regulator’s decision to admit that there are “no longer reasonable grounds” to consider Tchenguiz a suspect could leave it with a substantial bill for damages to his business interests. He [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING June 14, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Money managers reap US crop insurance rewards Institutional money managers have emerged as unlikely beneficiaries of a subsidised safety net for US farmers set for expansion by Washington. Basel III will damage developing countries Tough global bank reforms will be disproportionately difficult to implement in developing economies and will damage their growth, a [...]
Liquidators win in $600m fraud case against hedgie May 30, 2012 MAGNUS Peterson, the boss of collapsed hedge fund business Weavering, has been found guilty of defrauding investors and ordered to pay hundreds of millions of dollars in damages. London’s High Court ruled that Peterson, manager of the Weavering Macro Fixed Income fund, deceived clients and breached his duty of care to investors with a strategy [...]
Robert Tchenguiz and allies owed £1.6bn to Kaupthing, fraud office tells the High Court May 23, 2012 THE SERIOUS Fraud Office has begun the defence of its actions following the controversial arrest of property tycoons Vincent and Robert Tchenguiz last year. SFO counsel James Eadie told the High Court that at the time of Kaupthing’s collapse Robert and companies connected to him owed the bank around £1.6bn. Robert Tchenguiz owned shares in Kaupthing as [...]
Fraud office set to drop key case May 22, 2012 ANTI-FRAUD investigators could be forced to drop a long-running probe into property tycoon Vincent Tchenguiz after admitting they have made a series of mistakes. The Serious Fraud Office said it is “urgently” reviewing Tchenguiz’s status as a suspect after he was arrested in an inquiry into the collapse of Iceland’s Kaupthing Bank. Yesterday Tchenguiz’s barrister [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 21, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES SFO lawyer warned against pursuing Tchenguiz case The lead lawyer in the Serious Fraud Office’s investigation of the Tchenguiz brothers warned the agency two months before the property tycoons’ arrest that it should not pursue the case. In January 2011, Wayil Eisa, the lawyer tasked with drafting the case for the prosecution, submitted [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING May 20, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES Funds’ €60bn to buy European bank debt Hedge funds and private equity firms have amassed almost €60bn to buy loans from stricken European banks in coming years as many of the continent’s lenders seek to shrink their way to health, according to a PwC survey. PwC estimates European banks have almost €2.5tn of [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING April 26, 2012 FINANCIAL TIMES NEW SFO BOSS VOWS TO STAY RELEVANT The incoming director of the Serious Fraud Office has promised to pursue a more aggressive crime-fighting strategy, saying he will investigate “significant strategic targets” suspected of committing the most complex financial crime and overseas corruption. INVESTORS TURN HEAT ON MAN CHIEF Leading shareholders of Man Group, [...]
Outgoing SFO boss lets off steam about Al Yamamah April 23, 2012 The outgoing head of the Serious Fraud Office has decided not to go quietly. As his four-year term comes to an end, Richard Alderman has concluded that massive damage was done to the UK’s reputation for dealing with corruption when it shelved a bribery investigation into the Al Yamamah arms deal with Saudi Arabia. “I [...]