Pankit ja eliitti - joka päivä niin kiireisiä

[horus]

Ostetaan se takas, saadaan se varmaan halvalla

Mitä suatta, jahka ollaan hetelmäpuut ja nussinta-vaiheessa se voiraan tosta vaan kansallistaa.

[nyyhky]

Ostetaan se takas, saadaan se varmaan halvalla

Mitä suatta, jahka ollaan hetelmäpuut ja nussinta-vaiheessa se voiraan tosta vaan kansallistaa.

Isänmaallista

[Lusku]

Deutsche Bank Raided by Police in Money-Laundering Probe
By Karin Matussek
, Nicholas Comfort
, and Jan-Patrick Barnert
29. marraskuuta 2018 klo 11.20 UTC+2 Updated on 29. marraskuuta 2018 klo 13.53 UTC+2

German authorities descended on Deutsche Bank AG, including its downtown Frankfurt headquarters, in a coordinated raid related to a money-laundering investigation.

More than six police vehicles, their blue lights flashing, pulled up to Deutsche Bank’s main offices shortly before 9 a.m., in an operation involving about 170 officers. The main suspects were two bank employees who were not identified beyond their ages -- 50 and 46. Authorities were also looking at whether others might have been involved. The bank said it was cooperating in what prosecutors described as a continuing investigation.

For the beleaguered German lender, the raid adds to a panoply of headaches -- commercial, regulatory and legal -- facing Chief Executive Office Christian Sewing and Chairman Paul Achleitner. The stock has lost almost half its value this year, after sliding about 3 percent on Thursday. The cost of insuring its junior debt against losses jumped 11 basis points to 383 basis points, the highest in two years, according to data compiled by CMA.

“This must be associated with criminal behavior and not just a trivial offense,” said Stefan Mueller chief executive officer of DGWA, an investment advisory boutique based in Frankfurt. He believes the bank will now be paralyzed for months until it becomes clear how it will be affected by new potential fines. “Maybe this time, Achleitner will fall. The bank needs fresh blood to make a radical cut at its management.”

The investigation stems from revelations in the Panama Papers, a collection of documents leaked in 2016 from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm that created shell companies to facilitate tax avoidance. At the time, Deutsche Bank severed ties with a Cypriot lender partly owned by VTB Group that was identified in the reporting.

The subsequent investigations from the Panama Papers exposed evidence Deutsche Bank helped clients set up off-shore accounts, prosecutors said. The officials said the Thursday raid wasn’t related to its role as a correspondent bank for money laundering at Denmark’s Danske Bank.

The German lender may have helped clients in setting up offshore companies in tax havens. Money obtained illegally may have been transferred to accounts at Deutsche Bank, which failed to report the suspicions that the accounts may have been used to launder money, Frankfurt prosecutors said.

In an emailed statement, Deutsche Bank confirmed that police are investigating at several German locations in relation to Panama Papers, and said it is fully cooperating with authorities.

The timing of the raid inflicts more pain on Deutsche Bank after a series of setbacks and repeated failures in keeping misconduct in check have pushed the shares to all-time lows. Investor worries have mounted over its role as a correspondent bank in the multi-billion-dollar money-laundering scandal at Danske, and Germany’s markets regulator has taken the unprecedented step of appointing a monitor to oversee the firm’s efforts to improve money-laundering and terrorism-financing controls.

Deutsche Bank has spent more than $18 billion paying fines and settling legal disputes since the start of 2008, according to company disclosures compiled by Bloomberg News. In Europe, Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc is the only lender to have faced a bigger tab, at $18.1 billion, the Bloomberg calculations show.

"Just when you thought Deutsche Bank had left it’s legal troubles behind it, there’s more," said Markus Riesselmann, an analyst at Independent Research who recommends investors sell Deutsche Bank shares. "Investors really want to be able to focus on the bank’s operating business, so this noise around them is quite unhelpful for the mood.”

Sewing, who took the top job in April, is replacing key executives as part of a management shakeup as he struggles to get Germany’s biggest lender back on track. Sylvie Matherat, a management board member who serves as the bank’s chief regulatory officer, and Tom Patrick, who runs operations in the Americas, are among executives who might ultimately leave, people familiar with the matter said this week.

In a June 2017 interview, Matherat described the monumental task of modernizing the company’s compliance methods. After years of acquisitions and overseas expansion, the lender was left with a patchwork of computer programs to monitor transactions. The bank didn’t have a complete picture of the compliance controls in the organization’s businesses and regions, she said.

“I hate surprises, but you don’t know what you don’t know,” said Matherat, a lawyer and former deputy director general at the French central bank.

— With assistance by Martin Sobczyk, Steven Arons, and Edward Robinson
(Adds Matherat comment at end.)

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... r-business

[Lusku]

Malesialaiset eivät ole tyytyväisiä Goldman Sachsin rikolliseen toimintaan heidän maassaan. Yhdysvallan oikeusviranomaiset nostamassa juttua, saattaa tulla historiallisen iso lasku pankille, jopa yksittäiset pankkiirit saattavat joutua vastuuseen, jopa johtotason äijistä ollut puhetta

Anwar demands Goldman Sachs repay S$826 million and more from 1MDB scandal
By
Anna Maria Romero -
November 29, 2018

In an interview with the Financial Times on Wednesday, November 28, Anwar Ibrahim, Parti Keadilan Rakyat (PKR) president, said that Goldman Sachs, the American investment bank involved in the 1MDB scandal must return “significantly more” than the S$826.59 million that the bank collected in order to raise bonds for 1MDB (1Malaysia Development Berhad).

Anwar told the paper that Goldman Sachs’ collusion with disgraced Malaysian financier, Low Taek Jho has damaged Malaysia’s reputation. Low, who is now at large, along with Goldman Sachs reportedly defrauded Malaysia through 1MDB, a state investment company.

The PKR president insisted that what happened with 1MDB has caused investors to lose faith in the country, as well as left Malaysia with not enough finances for the current Pakatan Harapan (PH) government to do its job well.

He holds the American investment bank responsible for encouraging the financial crimes Low committed by giving him and others legitimacy for defrauding the country, with dire financial consequences that Malaysia is experiencing now.

He told the paper,

“For them to use a country like Malaysia — which is struggling to reform itself economically, moving up the ladder — really, to me, it’s disgusting.”

Anwar was asked if it would be enough for Goldman Sachs to merely return the S$826 million the bank made from 1MDB, and he said that it should pay “significantly more” than this amount.

Prosecutors in the United States have shown that Goldman Sachs earned US$600 million (S$826 million ) in fees due to its work with the Malaysian fund, an amount they deemed “above average,” and included, from 2012 to 2013, three bond offerings amounting to US$6.5 billion (S$8.9 billion). The bank was later implicated in payoffs to corrupt officials in both Malaysia and the United Arab Emirates.

Nevertheless, Goldman Sachs has not suffered the consequences of its 1MDB involvement, letting the blame fall instead on “rogue” staff like Tim Leissner, the bank’s former head in South East Asia, who has entered a guilty plea on criminal charges in the scandal. Roger Ng, another ex-banker from Goldman Sachs, is facing extradition to the US.

But Goldman Sachs’ involvement with the scandal may reach its very echelons, with investigations showing that Lloyd Blankfein, the bank’s chairman, having directly had a part in it as well.

Tommy Thomas, the US Attorney General, is supposedly getting ready to file a lawsuit against the bank for US$4.5 billion in damages (S$ 6.17 billion) because of Goldman Sachs role in the financial fraud at 1MDB.

Anwar told the Financial Times that Malaysia could seek compensation from Goldman Sachs via “aggressive negotiations.” Should this fail, he said, the next recourse would be litigation.

Read related: It’s Anwar Ibrahim for Port Dickson and future Malaysian Prime Minister

http://theindependent.sg/anwar-demands- ... b-scandal/

[Lusku]

Deutsche Bankin johtoportaan kaapit ja komerot: tutkinnassa

Deutsche bank Raids Reached Senior Managers
By Steven Arons
and Karin Matussek
30. marraskuuta 2018 klo 14.56 UTC+2 Updated on 1. joulukuuta 2018 klo 0.02 UTC+2

Shares extend slump to record low after another day of raids
Bank’s supervisory board is scheduled to gather on Tuesday

A second day of police raids at Deutsche Bank AG targeted the offices of its management board as German authorities said they’re making “very rapid” progress investigating suspected money laundering.

All eight members of the panel had their offices searched. In a statement late Friday, the firm said neither current nor former board members have been accused of wrongdoing. Yet with the bank’s leadership now drawn closer to the probe, its shares tumbled to a record low.

The firm’s supervisory board is set to gather Tuesday, and the latest developments are likely to top its discussions. The inquiry touches the bank’s private wealth unit, part of the expansive Private & Commercial Bank division run by Christian Sewing before he rose to chief executive officer in April. According to the company, prosecutors are targeting employees who failed to report money laundering.


Sewing, Deutsche Bank’s fourth CEO since 2015, is trapped in the same feedback loop of negative news, rising funding costs and declining revenue that foiled his predecessor, John Cryan. This time, authorities are looking into a cache of documents known as the Panama Papers that show a business based in the British Virgin Islands provided customers with a means to launder money, the bank said. Those operations were sold in March, it said.

Even after months of relentless travel and endless meetings with staff and clients, Sewing, a 48-year-old Deutsche Bank lifer, has been unable to break out of what Chief Financial Officer James von Moltke once called a “vicious circle.” The bank’s stock has slumped almost 50 percent this year, and Sewing is pulling out all the stops to escape that cycle.

Already, he has replaced two members of the management board: former Chief Operating Officer Kim Hammonds and the head of asset management, Nicolas Moreau. Chief Regulatory Officer Sylvie Matherat may be the next to go, people familiar with the matter have said.

Panama Papers

The Panama Papers refer to a collection of documents leaked in 2016 from Mossack Fonseca, a Panama-based law firm that created shell companies to facilitate tax avoidance. Deutsche Bank said its offices were raided as authorities examining those records look into whether employees aided or abetted money laundering.

“The accusation against the accused is that they did not report money laundering in time, but only after the publication of the so-called Panama Papers in the media,” Deutsche Bank said. While the bank didn’t identify the British Virgin Islands business under focus, the Financial Times and Sueddeutsche Zeitung said the inquiry involves Regula Limited, a subsidiary that the lender sold in March. Sewing took the helm the following month.

German authorities have made “very rapid and very good progress since the beginning of the search at Deutsche Bank,” Albrecht Schreiber of the Frankfurt public prosecutor’s office said in a joint statement with the lender late Friday. Deutsche Bank is cooperating “comprehensively,” according to the statement.

The police raid on Thursday and Friday was targeting two suspects identified by their age and an unspecified number of other suspects, the prosecutors said. One of the two suspects works in the bank’s anti-financial crime unit, a person familiar with the matter said. It was headed by Philippe Vollot until this summer and now is led by Stephan Wilken. The unit head ultimately reports to Matherat.

The other suspect identified by age works in the private wealth unit, according to the person. It’s led by Fabrizio Campelli and it’s part of Deutsche Bank’s private and commercial bank now headed by management board member Frank Strauss. It was led by Sewing from 2015 until early this year.

Searches don’t necessarily mean that prosecutors have evidence against a person whose office is being raided. They can raid homes or offices of people who aren’t implicated if there’s reason to believe documents or other evidence relevant to the case may be found there. In probes of corporate crimes, investigators generally check whether top managers knew about the alleged wrongdoing or did enough to prevent it.

— With assistance by Nicholas Comfort, Sonali Basak, and Dan Reichl

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles ... le-endures

[Pasi Fist]

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/ ... dman-sachs

1MDB scandal: Malaysia files charges against Goldman Sachs

Charges filed against US firm as part of ongoing corruption and money laundering inquiry

Malaysia has filed criminal charges against Wall Street titan Goldman Sachs and two of its former employees over the scandal surrounding state fund 1MDB.

Charges were filed against subsidiaries of Goldman Sachs and former employees Tim Leissner and Ng Chong Hwa, said a statement from Malaysia’s attorney general, Tommy Thomas.

Low Taek Jho, a Malaysian financier who allegedly masterminded the theft of billions of dollars from the sovereign wealth fund that was used to buy everything from yachts to artwork, was also hit with new charges over the scandal.

Allegations that huge sums were looted from the fund in an audacious fraud that involved former Malaysian leader Najib Razak and his associates played a huge role in the last government’s defeat at elections in May.

Goldman underwrote bonds issued by 1MDB on three occasions totalling $6.5bn (£5.15bn), and earned $600m in fees for the bond issue.

Monday’s charges related to the bond issues, which took place in 2012 and 2013. A total of $2.7bn was dishonestly misappropriated from the bond issuances, Thomas said.

Leissner and Ng – who have already been charged in the US over the scandal – conspired with Jho and others to bribe Malaysian officials to ensure that Goldman was selected to work on the bonds, the statement said.

The fees paid to Goldman were “several times higher” than usual market rates, and false statements were presented to investors suggesting the proceeds of the issuances would be used for legitimate purposes, it said.

“Having held themselves out as the pre-eminent global adviser/arranger for bonds, the highest standards are expected of Goldman Sachs,” Thomas said.

“They have fallen far short of any standard.”

Low has said he is innocent. A spokesman did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

In an emailed statement to Reuters and that the bank continues to cooperate with all authorities in their investigations. The bank has consistently denied wrongdoing.

[Pasi Fist]

https://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000005941020.html

Tubettaja haukkui Miss Universum -kilpailijan pukua rumaksi – asu oli thaiprinsessan suunnittelema ja nyt arvostelijaa uhkaavat oikeustoimet

Vaaleansininen iltapuku nähtiin Miss Thaimaan yllä. Poliisi on ilmoittanut tutkivansa tapausta.

Suosittu thaimaalainen Youtube-persoona Wanchaleom Jamneanphol on vaikeuksissa. Häntä saattaa odottaa muun muassa kunnianloukkaussyyte, koska hän sanoi Miss Universum -kilpailuun osallistuneen Thaimaan edustajan Sophida Kanchanarinin iltapukua rumaksi.

Asiasta kertovat muun muassa uutistoimisto AFP ja brittilehti The Guardian. Miss Universum -kilpailun finaali käytiin maanantaina Thaimaassa.

Mahdollinen syyte ei tule Kanchanarinin kunnian loukkaamisesta, vaan Thaimaan kuningashuoneen. Jamneanpholin haukkuma mekko on Thaimaan prinsessan Sirivannavari Nariratanan suunnittelema. Kyseessä olisi siis mahdollisesti majesteettirikos.

Thaimaassa on hyvin tiukka suhtautuminen siihen, mitä kuningashuoneesta saa tai ei saa sanoa. Majesteettirikoslainsäädäntö kieltää kuninkaan, kuningattaren, kruununperillisen tai sijaishallitsijan kritisoimisen, mutta myöskään muihin kuningashuoneen jäseniin kohdistuvaa kielteistä kommentointia ei katsota hyvällä.

Tapahtumat saivat alkunsa maanantaina, kun Jamneanphol julkaisi Facebook-päivityksen, jossa hän sanoi prinsessan suunnittelemaa vaaleansinistä iltapukua rumaksi, kertoi The Guardian.

Kommentit lähtivät nopeasti leviämään sosiaalisessa mediassa. AFP kertoi saaneensa vahvistuksen siitä, että Thaimaan seuraaviin parlamenttivaaleihin tähtäävä liikemies Kitjanut Chaiyosburana on tehnyt Jamneanpholin kommenteista rikosilmoituksen.

”Minusta internetidolit ovat kuin näyttelijöitä, joilla on paljon seuraajia. Jos he toimivat väärin verkossa, asian ei pidä päättyä pelkkiin anteeksipyyntöihin”, Chaiyosburana sanoi AFP:n mukaan.

Thaimaan poliisista kerrottiin AFP:lle, että asiaa tutkitaan.

Jamneanphol poisti julkaisunsa maanantaina ja pyysi anteeksi kommenttejaan.

”Tarkoituksenani ei ollut loukata monarkiaa. Tunnen katumusta ja olen pahoillani tapahtuneesta”, Jamneanphol kirjoitti AFP:n mukaan.

Hän myös lupasi jatkossa harjoittaa viisautta ja harkintaa sosiaalisen median julkaisuissaan.

[Pasi Fist]

https://www.hs.fi/ulkomaat/art-2000005942588.html

Alumiinikeisari Oleg Deripaska yrittää pelastaa imperiuminsa lahjoittamalla omaisuuttaan pois – menettänyt vuosikymmenessä yli 20 miljardia dollaria

”Hän ei myy, hän antaa pois”, Deripaskan tunteva metallialan lähde sanoi.

Venäläinen oligarkki Oleg Deripaska luopuu merkittävästä osasta omistuksiaan, jotta Yhdysvallat peruu hänen perustamalleen Rusal-alumiinijätille ja sen emoyhtiölle asetetut pakotteet.

Rusal on tuotannolla mitattuna maailman toiseksi suurin alumiiniyhtiö kiinalaisen Hongqiaon jälkeen. Keskiviikkona julkistetun järjestelyn mukaan Deripaskan omistusosuus Rusalia hallinnoivasta monialakonsernista En+ Groupista pienenee noin 70 prosentista 44,95 prosenttiin ja äänivalta 35 prosenttiin.

Siten Deripaska luovuttaa valtansa alumiini-imperiumissaan hintana sen pääsystä takaisin maailmanmarkkinoille.

”Hän ei myy, hän antaa pois”, Deripaskan tunteva metallialan lähde sanoi uutistoimisto Reutersille.

Deripaska siirtää omistuksiaan Reutersin mukaan venäläiselle VTB-pankille ja hyväntekeväisyys­järjestölle. Lisäksi sveitsiläisyhtiö Glencore vaihtaa Rusalin osakkeita En+:n osakkeisiin.

Deripaska omistaa Rusalin osakkeista suoraan vain 0,01 prosenttia.

Kyse on Yhdysvaltain valtiovarainministeriön kanssa sovitusta järjestelystä, johon Yhdysvaltain kongressilla on vielä kuukausi aikaa puuttua. Deripaskan yhtiöt joutuivat pakotteiden kohteeksi viime huhtikuussa, koska Yhdysvallat katsoi niiden kytkeytyvän Venäjän hallintoon ja sitä kautta valtion rikollisiin toimiin kuten Krimin valtaamiseen Ukrainalta.

”Perusteetonta, naurettavaa ja absurdia”, Deripaska kommentoi pakotteita tuolloin.

Pakotteet kohdistuivat Venäjän presidentin Vladimir Putinin sisäpiiriin, ja niitä pidettiin ankarimpina Yhdysvaltain asettamina pakotteina sitten Krimin valtaamisen vuonna 2014.

Reuters kuvailee Rusalin pakotteista luopumista joululahjaksi paitsi yhtiölle myös alumiinin ostajille ja Venäjän pörssille.

”Rusal pysyy Venäjällä mutta avautuu hieman Yhdysvaltojen suuntaan”, tilannetta tunteva lähde sanoi Reutersille.

Järjestelylle oli tukea myös muista maista. Rusalilla on suuria omistuksia eri puolilla Eurooppaa. Esimerkiksi Irlanti kertoi keskiviikkona puolustaneensa voimakkaasti pakotteiden purkamista työpaikkojen suojelemiseksi 600 työntekijän tehtaalla Aughinishissa Irlannissa. Se tuottaa Reutersin mukaan kolmasosan Euroopan alumiinioksidista, josta valmistetaan alumiinia.

Venäläisen BSC Global Markets -varainhoitoyhtiön analyytikko Kirill Tšujko arvioi Reutersille, että järjestelylle on luultavasti myös Putinin hyväksyntä.

Deripaska jää yhä huhtikuussa asetettujen henkilökohtaisten pakotteiden kohteeksi. Niiden perusteeksi Yhdysvaltain valtiovarainministeriö listaa muun muassa epäilyt rahanpesusta, kilpailijoiden hengen uhkaamisesta, kiristyksestä, lahjonnasta, liikemiehen murhan tilaamisesta ja kytköksistä järjestäytyneeseen rikollisuuteen.

Alumiinikeisarina tunnettu Deripaska, 50, oli menestyksensä huipulla vuonna 2008, jolloin talouslehti Forbes nimesi hänet Venäjän rikkaimmaksi ja maailman yhdeksänneksi rikkaimmaksi ihmiseksi 28 miljardin dollarin omaisuudella.

Deripaskan miljardit sulivat kansainvälisessä finanssikriisissä, mutta hän selvisi kuivin jaloin. Tänä vuonna Forbes arvioi Deripaskan omaisuudeksi kolme miljardia dollaria.

Fysiikkaa opiskelleen Deripaskan ura metallialalla alkoi 1990-luvulla, kun hän ryhtyi ostamaan raaka-aineita pilkkahintaan metallisulatoilta, jotka olivat polvillaan Neuvostoliiton romahdettua.

Deripaska sijoitti voittonsa metalliyritysten osakkeisiin. Ensimmäinen hankinta oli 20 prosentin osuus eteläsiperialaisesta Sajanogorskin alumiinisulatosta. Siitä tuli Deripaskan Rusal-alumiinijätin ydin. Vuonna 2015 Rusal oli maailman suurin alumiinintuottaja, kunnes kiinalainen kilpailija ajoi sen ohi.

[Pasi Fist]

https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... an-reports

Former Nissan chairman Carlos Ghosn re-arrested in Japan

Media says Ghosn was re-arrested on suspicion of aggravated breach of trust and could face further period of detention

Prosecutors in Japan have re-arrested Carlos Ghosn, possibly ending any hopes the former Nissan chairman had of an early release from detention over financial misconduct allegations. .

Ghosn, who has been detained for more than a month, was re-arrested on Friday morning on suspicion of aggravated breach of trust and could face another 10 days in detention.

Speculation had been building that he could be released on bail after a court unexpectedly rejected a prosecution request to extend his detention for further questioning.

But in the latest twist to a saga that has gripped Japan, Ghosn was instead re-arrested, this time on suspicion of using Nissan funds to cover losses of 1.85bn yen ($16.6m) he incurred from derivatives trading in 2008.

Prosecutors, whose prolonged detention of Ghosn has attracted international criticism, said: “The accused was responsible for managing Nissan’s overall operations and for dutifully fulfilling his role as chief executive not to cause damage to Nissan and its subsidiaries ... but he took action that betrayed his role and caused financial damage to Nissan.”

Ghosn was first arrested on 19 November for allegedly underreporting his pay by about 5bn yen between 2011 and 2015. In addition he and former Nissan executive Greg Kelly, who is also being detained, are alleged to have continued to underreport Ghosn’s income through to March this year, increasing the overall underreported amount by 4bn yen.

Public broadcaster NHK said the 64-year-old had denied the latest allegation. He and Kelly have also denied two other charges of financial misconduct in relation to Ghosn’s salary.

Prosecutors now have 48 hours to question Ghosn over the latest allegation, and can then apply to detain him for 10 days, with the option of requesting a further 10-day extension.

Kelly, who was not re-arrested on Friday, is seeking bail, according to a court statement.

Ghosn, however, faces spending Christmas and possibly the start of next year in his tiny cell at a Tokyo detention centre.

Friday’s dramatic turn of events came just hours after Ghosn vowed to clear his name. “Things as they stand are absolutely unacceptable,” he said through his lawyer, according to NHK. “I want to have my position heard and restore my honour in court.”

The justice minister, Takashi Yamashita, said foreign criticism of the length of Ghosn’s detention, during which he has been interrogated without his lawyers present, was “unwarranted”.

But experts said the prosecutors’ decision to re-arrest him reflected poorly on the country’s criminal justice system. “The Japanese penal system has been revealed to the wider world. It is not necessarily Japan’s best side and this is not good for business,” said Lionel Vincent, a Tokyo-based lawyer.

Ghosn has experienced a rapid fall from grace since he was first arrested as soon as he arrived in Tokyo on his private jet. The Frenchman, who was born in Brazil and is of Lebanese descent, is credited with saving Nissan from near-bankruptcy 20 years ago and of forging a successful alliance with Renault and Mitsubishi Motors.

But the case has exposed differences between Renault and its partners in Japan over Ghosn’s alleged conduct that some industry observers say could threaten the three-way alliance. Shortly before Ghosn’s arrest, Nissan executives were said to be unhappy about his plans to strengthen the firm’s ties with the French carmaker.

Nissan and Mitsubishi sacked Ghosn as chairman soon after his arrest, but Renault has kept him on as chairman.

Japanese media said Ghosn had admitted signing documents to defer part of his salary until after retirement but said the amount did not need to be declared as it had not yet been definitively fixed.

He is believed to have attempted to defer a portion of his salary to avoid criticism from Nissan staff and shareholders that he was being paid too much.

[Pasi Fist]

https://www.hs.fi/talous/art-2000005946204.html

Maailman rikkaimpien omaisuuden arvosta on haihtunut tänä vuonna kymmeniä miljardeja dollareita – mutta kaksi poikkeustakin löytyy

Kymmenen varakkaimman omaisuuden yhteenlaskettu arvo 660 miljardia dollaria, mikä on noin 48 miljardia dollaria vähemmän kuin vuoden alussa.

Maailman kymmenestä varakkaimmasta ainoastaan kahden omaisuuden laskennallinen arvo on kasvanut tänä vuonna, ilmenee uutistoimisto Bloombergin miljardööri-indeksistä.

Kymmenen rikkaimmin omaisuuden yhteenlaskettu arvo on vajaat 660 miljardia dollaria, mikä on pyöristäen 48 miljardia dollaria vähemmän kuin vuoden alussa.

Verkkokauppa Amazonin perustajan ja toimitusjohtajan Jeff Bezosin omaisuuden arvo on kasvanut kuluvan vuoden aikana 16,1 miljardia dollaria 115 miljardiin dollariin. Bezos on maailman rikkain.

Ylellisyystuotteita valmistavan LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuittonin hallituksen puheenjohtajan ja suurimman osakkeenomistajan Bernard Arnaultin omaisuuden arvo on kasvanut tänä vuonna 4,04 miljardia dollaria 67,3 miljardiin dollariin.

Kaikkien muiden kymmenen varakkaimman omaisuuden arvo on supistunut osakkeiden halpenemisen takia.

Laskennallisesti eniten on köyhtynyt ohjelmistoyhtiö Facebookin toimitusjohtaja ja perustaja Mark Zuckerberg, jonka omaisuuden arvo on tänä vuonna supistunut 23,1 miljardia dollaria 49,7 miljardiin dollariin.

Kuluvan vuoden aikana on tullut ilmi, että yhtiö on antanut kumppaneilleen pääsyn omistamansa yhteisöpalvelun käyttäjien tietoihin, sen tietoturvassa on puutteita ja palvelua on käytetty äänestäjiin vaikuttamiseksi.

Toiseksi eniten on supistunut espanjalaisen Amancio Ortegan omaisuuden arvo, joka on vähentynyt vuoden alusta 16,2 miljardia dollaria 59,2 miljardiin euroon. Ortega omistaa 59 prosenttia tekstiiliyhtiö Inditexista, joka taas omistaa esimerkiksi vaatteita myyvän Zaran.

Maailman toiseksi rikkaimman eli ohjelmistoyhtiö Microsoftin perustajan Bill Gatesin omaisuuden arvo on kutistunut kuluvana vuonna 2,77 miljardia dollaria 89,0 miljardiin dollariin.

Pohjois­maiden vaurain on vaate­liike Hennes & Mauritzin halli­tuksen puheen­johtaja ja suurin osakkeen­omistaja Stefan Persson. Hänen jonka omaisuuden arvo pienentynyt tänä vuonna 4,92 miljardia dollaria 14,5 miljardiin dollariin. Persson on maailman 64:nneksi varakkain.

Suomen rikkain on hissejä ja liukuportaita valmistavan Koneen hallituksen puheenjohtaja ja suurin osakkeenomistaja Antti Herlin, jonka laskennallinen varallisuus on tänä vuonna supistunut 509 miljoonaa dollaria 3,97 miljardiin dollariin. Herlin on maailman 431:nneksi varakkain.

Luettelo maailman kymmenen varakkaimman omaisuudesta ja heidän omaisuutensa arvon muutoksesta kuluvan vuoden aikana.

1. Jezz Besos 115 miljardia dollaria (+16,1 miljardia dollaria

2. Bill Gates 89,0 miljardia dollaria (–2,77 miljardia dollaria)

3. Warren Buffett 78,9 miljardia dollaria (–6,37 miljardia dollaria)

4. Bernard Arnault 67,3 miljardia dollaria (+4,04 miljardia dollaria)

5. Amancio Ortega 59,2 miljardia dollaria (–16,2 miljardia dollaria)

6. Carlos Slim 53,9 miljardia dollaria (–7,62 miljardia dollaria)

7. Mark Zuckerberg 49,7 miljardia dollaria (–23,1 miljardia dollaria)

8. Larry Page 49,0 miljardia dollaria (–3,38 miljardia dollaria)

9. Larry Ellison 48,1 miljardia dollaria (–5,02 miljardia dollaria)

10. Sergey Brin 47,7 miljardia dollaria (–3,35 miljardia dollaria)

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https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/201 ... g-accounts

Wells Fargo to pay $575m settlement for setting up fake banking accounts

The bank had already been ordered to pay more than $1.2bn and the new agreement requires teams to review customer complaints

Wells Fargo will pay $575m in a settlement with attorneys general from all 50 states and the District of Columbia, who were investigating fake accounts opened without the knowledge of customers and other dubious practices.

The bank has been under a cloud since 2015, when it acknowledged that employees had opened millions of fake bank accounts for customers in order to meet sales goals. It has also said that it sold auto insurance and other financial products to customers who didn’t need them.

Wells Fargo had already been ordered to pay more than $1.2bn in penalties and faced stricter regulations. Under the new agreement announced on Friday, the bank will also create teams to review and respond to customer complaints about its banking and sales practices.

“This agreement underscores our serious commitment to making things right in regard to past issues as we work to build a better bank,” said the chief executive, Tim Sloan.

Sloan apologized at a congressional hearing in 2017. The bank has announced plans to lay off up to 10% of its workforce over the next three years.

California, Wells Fargo’s home state, will get more than a quarter of the settlement funds because of the number of customers living there. The state attorney general, Xavier Becerra, called the bank’s behavior “disgraceful”.

“Wells Fargo customers entrusted their bank with their livelihood, their dreams, and their savings for the future,” said Becerra. “Instead of safeguarding its customers, Wells Fargo exploited them, signing them up for products – from bank accounts to insurance – that they never wanted.

“This is an incredible breach of trust that threatens not only the customers who depended on Wells Fargo, but confidence in our banking system.”

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https://www.hs.fi/talous/art-2000005970824.html

Kun käteinen katoaa, pankkeja ei pääse enää pakoon millään – Siksi Ruotsin keskus­pankki suunnittelee kokonaan digitaalista kruunua, joka kiinnostaa Suomessakin

Ruotsin keskuspankki suunnittelee jo kokonaan digitaalista kruunua. Ajatus ei ole vieras Suomessakaan.

Käteisen katoamisesta on keskusteltu vuosia, mutta ainakin toistaiseksi se on pitänyt pintansa.

Runsaan 340 miljoonan asukkaan euroalueella käteistä on liikkeessä 1 200 miljardin euron arvosta. Se on enemmän kuin koskaan aikaisemmin.

Maksamisen muutokset ovat kuitenkin vääjäämättömiä.

Kuluttajat maksavat ostoksiaan yhä enemmän luottokorteilla, maksukorteilla tai puhelimiensa sovelluksilla. Samanaikaisesti käteisen hankkiminen on yhä vaikeampaa: kaikista pankkikonttoreista ei saa enää käteistä ja käteisautomaatteja on vähennetty.

Pohjoismaista etenkin Ruotsissa monet kaupat, kahvilat ja ravintolat ovat vähentäneet käteisen vastaanottamista. Maksuja voi tehdä kasvavassa määrin vain luotto- tai maksukortilla ja puhelimella.

Ruotsin keskuspankki on esitellyt jo pitkään suunnitelmiaan digitaalisen keskuspankkirahan, e-kronan, kehittämisestä. Keskuspankin mukaan puolet vähittäismyyjistä arvioi, että viimeistään vuonna 2025 ne lopettavat käteisen hyväksymisen maksuvälineenä. Silloin käteisen tilalla pitäisi olla jokin uusi maksuväline, joka ei ole vain pankkien hallinnassa.

Mutta miten digitaalinen raha oikeastaan eroaa käteisestä?

Ruotsalainen taloustieteilijä Knut Wicksell kehitti jo 1900-luvun alussa teorian ”puhtaasta luottotaloudesta”, jossa kaikki on raha on velkaa. Wicksell tarkoitti puhtaalla luottotaloudella tilannetta, jossa setelit ja metalliraha olisivat hävinneet.

Käteinen raha on keskuspankin korotonta velkaa käteisen haltijalle. Kyse on siis keskuspankkirahasta, jota keskuspankki voi luoda periaatteessa määrättömästi, jos se ei välitä rahan arvosta. Rahanluontioikeutensa takia keskuspankki ei voi mennä vararikkoon.

Kun maksuja suoritetaan luottokorteilla, maksukorteilla tai puhelimella, käytetään liikepankkirahaa. Sitä puolestaan syntyy, kun pankki antaa lainan. Liikepankkirahan käyttöön sisältyy aina riski, jota on tosin talletussuojalla pyritty poistamaan.

Maksutapojen muuttuessa uuden tekniikan takia on herännyt kysymys, pitäisikö keskuspankkien seteleiden lisäksi kehittää digitaalinen keskuspankin liikkeeseen laskema käteinen.

Ruotsi on kansainvälisessä vertailussa verraten pieni kansantalous, jolla on oma valuutta ja keskuspankki. Suomi taas on yhteisvaluutta eurossa, jossa käteisen kohtalosta päättää Euroopan keskuspankki.

Euro puolestaan on Yhdysvaltojen dollarin kaltainen kansainvälinen valuutta.

Suomen Pankin johtokunnan jäsen Tuomas Välimäki korostaa, että ajatus digitaalisesta keskuspankkirahasta ei ole uusi. Sitä on vuosien varrella pohdittu Suomen Pankin lisäksi monissa muissakin keskuspankeissa.

”Onhan se aivan perusteltu kysymys, miksi digitalisoituvassa maailmassa käytetään vielä käteistä. Digitaalinen keskuspankkiraha tulee varmasti jossain vaiheessa ja jossakin muodossa, mutta on hyvin vaikea arvioida, milloin ja millaisena se tulee.”

Keskeinen kysymys digitaalisessa keskuspankkirahassa on se, miten se toteutetaan.

Jos siitä halutaan käteisen tapaan anonyymi, pitää hyödyntää lohkoketjutekniikkaa. Siis samaa tekniikkaa kuin virtuaalivaluutoissa, joiden takaajana ei ole mikään viranomainen tai valtio.

”Maailmassa on ja tulee varmasti olemaan kysyntää maksuvälineelle, joka ei jätä digitaalista jälkeä. Enkä tarkoita pelkästään rikollista toimintaa vaan esimerkiksi sitä, että joku saattaa haluta tehdä asioita ilman, että viranomaiset tai vaikkapa puoliso sitä tietää.”

Toinen vaihtoehto on, että kansalaisilla olisi tili keskuspankissa. Se taas tarkoittaisi, että keskuspankkirahan anonymiteetti poistettaisiin.

”Kun ihmisiä valvotaan ja seurataan tekniikan kehittymisen takia yhä enemmän, joku kehittäisi varmasti anonyymin maksamisen keinon. Jos anonymiteetti poistetaan eurosta, ihmiset saattaisivat alkaa käyttää jotakin toista maksutapaa, jossa anonymiteetti on varmistettu.”

Oli sitten kysymys keskuspankkitilistä tai lohkoketjutekniikalla toteutettavasta keskuspankkirahasta, molemmat vaihtoehdot edellyttävät uuden turvallisen maksujärjestelmän perustamista. Se voisi tarkoittaa huomattavia kustannuksia.

Välimäki korostaa, että kaikille perustettava keskuspankkitili ei ole lainkaan ongelmaton ratkaisu.

”Jos kaikilla olisi tili keskuspankissa, se saattaisi lisätä pankkijärjestelmän epävakautta, koska liikepankkien tilillä olevat varat olisi hyvin helppoa siirtää keskuspankin tilille minkä tahansa epävarmuuden kasvun seurauksena. Vaarana olisi talletuspako liikepankeista.”

Talletuspako tarkoittaa sitä, kun suuri määrä liikepankin asiakkaita nostaa talletuksiaan pelätessään pankin maksukyvyttömyyttä.

Laajamittainen talletuspako aiheuttaa pankeille erittäin suuria vaikeuksia, koska ne ovat sijoittaneet asiakkaiden talletukset kohteisiin, joita ei voi nopeasti muuttaa käteiseksi.

”Talletukset ovat liikepankeille vakaa ja turvallinen tapa hankkia rahoitusta. Jos talletukset katoaisivat, pankeista voisi olla paljon vaikeampaa saada lainaa ainakaan kovin edullisesti.”

Tosiasiassa digitaalinen keskuspankkiraha on jo käytössä, mutta ei kuluttajien keskuudessa.

Kun Euroopan keskuspankki (EKP) rahapoliittisessa elvytyksessään osti markkinoilta arvopapereita, EKP siirsi liikepankkien tai muiden sijoittajien tileille vain digitaalisia tilimerkintöjä.

Toinen tosiasia on sekin, että käteinen aiheuttaa pankeille kustannuksia. Sen säilyttäminen ja siirtäminen paikasta toiseen on verraten kallista. Ei siis ihme, että kaikista konttoreista ei saa enää nostettua käteistä ja käteisautomaatteja on vähennetty.

”Suomessa 700 000–800 000 ihmisistä käyttää käteistä yhä pääasiallisena maksuvälineenä. Määrä on sen verran huomattava, että käteistä tarvitaan vielä pitkään. Lisäksi lähes kaikki meistä käyttävät jossain määrin käteistä.”

Toisaalta luottokortit ja maksukortit aiheuttavat kaupoille, palveluiden myyjille ja pankeille kustannuksia. Osa niistä peritään tavalla tai toisella kuluttajilta.

Jos käteisen hankkiminen on vaikeaa tai kallista, kuluttajilla on kannustin alkaa käyttää muita maksuvälineitä.

”Suomessa ei ole vielä havaittavissa sitä, että vähittäismyyjät lopettaisivat käteisen vastaanottamisen. Ruotsissa asia on toisin. Ehkä Ruotsin keskuspankki on siksi ollut eturintamassa digitaalisen keskuspankkirahan kehittämisessä.”

Monet kannattavat liikepankkirahasta irtautumista myös ideologista syitä. Joillekin ihmisille riippumattomuus liikepankeista on perustavanlaatuinen kysymys, koska kaikki eivät pidä pankeista.

Ajatus liikepankkirahasta irtautumisesta oli esillä jo Yhdysvaltojen suuren laman aikaan 1930-luvulla. Joukko maineikkaan Chicagon yliopiston taloustieteilijöitä ehdotti, että liikepankkien pitäisi talletusten asemesta hankkia varansa vain osakkeina tai laskemalla liikkeeseen riskillistä lainaa.

Kun kuluttaja tallettaa varoja pankkiin, kyse on pankin velasta kuluttajalle. Kun liikepankilla on tili keskuspankissa, tilillä olevat varat ovat keskuspankin velkaa liikepankille.

”Jos liikepankeilta poistetaan mahdollisuus luoda rahaa antamalla lainoja, herää kysymys, mistä kotitaloudet ja yritykset saisivat tarvitsemansa lainat. Keskuspankki ei voi alkaa lainoittamaan kotitalouksia ja yrityksiä”, Välimäki sanoo.

Talouden ja kuluttajien käyttäytymisen ennustaminen on hyvin vaikeaa. Siksi Välimäki vastaan kysymykseen siitä, milloin käteinen katoaa Suomessa ja euroalueella esimerkillä menneisyydestä.

”Tulin Suomen Pankkiin töihin vuonna 1995. Silloin sanottiin, että viiden vuoden kuluessa käteinen katoaa Suomesta, koska meillä oli maailman kehittyneiden maksujärjestelmä. Nyt on vuosi 2019 ja käteistä on laskettu enemmän liikkeeseen kuin koskaan aikaisemmin.”

Fakta

Rahan kolme tehtävää

Vaihdon väline. Tarkoittaa sitä, että rahaa käytetään tavaroiden ja palveluiden ostamiseen.

Arvon säilyttäjä. Käteisen rahan arvo perustuu sopimukseen ja luottamukseen. Luottamus perustuu siihen, että tietyn määrän rahaa voi lähitulevaisuudessa vaihtaa suunnilleen samaan määrään tavaroita ja palveluita kuin nykyisin.

Laskentayksikkö. Tavaroiden ja palveluiden hintoja ja arvoja mitataan rahassa.

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https://www.theguardian.com/business/20 ... fam-report

World's 26 richest people own as much as poorest 50%, says Oxfam

Charity calls for 1% wealth tax, saying it would raise enough to educate every child not in school

The growing concentration of the world’s wealth has been highlighted by a report showing that the 26 richest billionaires own as many assets as the 3.8 billion people who make up the poorest half of the planet’s population.

In an annual wealth check released to mark the start of the World Economic Forum in Davos, the development charity Oxfam said 2018 had been a year in which the rich had grown richer and the poor poorer.

It said the widening gap was hindering the fight against poverty, adding that a 1% wealth tax would raise an estimated $418bn (£325bn) a year – enough to educate every child not in school and provide healthcare that would prevent 3 million deaths.

Oxfam said the wealth of more than 2,200 billionaires across the globe had increased by $900bn in 2018 – or $2.5bn a day. The 12% increase in the wealth of the very richest contrasted with a fall of 11% in the wealth of the poorest half of the world’s population.

As a result, the report concluded, the number of billionaires owning as much wealth as half the world’s population fell from 43 in 2017 to 26 last year. In 2016 the number was 61.

Among the findings of the report were:

- In the 10 years since the financial crisis, the number of billionaires has nearly doubled.

- Between 2017 and 2018 a new billionaire was created every two days.

- The world’s richest man, Jeff Bezos, the owner of Amazon, saw his fortune increase to $112bn. Just 1% of his fortune is equivalent to the whole health budget for Ethiopia, a country of 105 million people.

- The poorest 10% of Britons are paying a higher effective tax rate than the richest 10% (49% compared with 34%) once taxes on consumption such as VAT are taken into account.

Oxfam’s director of campaigns and policy, Matthew Spencer, said: “The massive fall in the number of people living in extreme poverty is one of the greatest achievements of the past quarter of a century but rising inequality is jeopardising further progress.

“The way our economies are organised means wealth is increasingly and unfairly concentrated among a privileged few while millions of people are barely subsisting. Women are dying for lack of decent maternity care and children are being denied an education that could be their route out of poverty. No one should be condemned to an earlier grave or a life of illiteracy simply because they were born poor.

“It doesn’t have to be this way – there is enough wealth in the world to provide everyone with a fair chance in life. Governments should act to ensure that taxes raised from wealth and businesses paying their fair share are used to fund free, good-quality public services that can save and transform people’s lives.”

The report said many governments were making inequality worse by failing to invest enough in public services. It noted that about 10,000 people die for lack of healthcare and there were 262 million children not in school, often because their parents were unable to afford the fees, uniforms or textbooks.

Oxfam said governments needed to do more to fund high-quality, universal public services through tackling tax dodging and ensuring fairer taxation, including on corporations and the richest individuals’ wealth, which it said were often undertaxed.

A global wealth tax has been called for by the French economist Thomas Piketty, who has said action is needed to arrest the trend in inequality.

The World Inequality Report 2018 – co-authored by Piketty – showed that between 1980 and 2016 the poorest 50% of humanity only captured 12 cents in every dollar of global income growth. By contrast, the top 1% captured 27 cents of every dollar.

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https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/201 ... n-language

HSBC tells Welsh customer not to complain in 'foreign' language

Bank asked ‘shocked’ customer to resend message in English


The Welsh language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith criticised the bank’s ‘insulting’ reply.

A major bank told a customer who wrote to it in Welsh to complain that some services were not available in her language that she should communicate with it in English rather than a “foreign” tongue.

Nia Lloyd, a classroom assistant from Wrexham in north Wales, wrote to HSBC pointing out that online services were not available in Welsh.

But customer support replied that her message was in a “foreign” language and asked her to resend it in English. Both Welsh and English are official languages in Wales.

Lloyd said: “I was shocked that they would respond to my complaint in that way. I thought the bank would have more respect for the Welsh language. They should celebrate all the beautiful cultures and languages of the world.”

HSBC, which used to brand itself “the world’s local bank”, recently drew social media attention for its “we are not an island” campaign proclaiming the virtues of multiculturalism.

The Welsh-language campaign group Cymdeithas yr Iaith criticised the bank’s reply. A spokesperson for the group, Tamsin Davies, said: “These comments are insulting, but unfortunately not unexpected; after all, banks are disrespecting Welsh speakers every day. There isn’t a single bank that provides online banking in Welsh.”

Lloyd is one of hundreds of people who have written to banks about the lack of online services in Welsh, Davies said. “We believe people in Wales should have the right to live their lives in Welsh,” she added. “Instead of taking these complaints seriously, it seems that many within HSBC and other banks think that these kinds of comments are appropriate.”

Not all organisations are legally obliged to use Welsh. More than 120 public bodies in Wales, including the NHS and local authorities, face fines if certain services are not available in Welsh. Those rules were due to be rolled out for some private sector entities last year but the Welsh government put the plans on hold because they were “costly and complex”.

Davies said other large companies were nonetheless offering online services in Welsh. “But these seriously wealthy banks refuse to provide online banking in Welsh, which for more and more people is the main way they bank.”

Lloyd wrote to HSBC: “I would like to complain about the fact that your online banking services are not available in Welsh. I, like a large number of other customers, want to be able to bank online in Welsh. With fewer and fewer services provided in branches, and increasing demand for online banking services, I believe that you should provide complete services in Welsh online. That includes providing an online banking interface that works fully in Welsh. I look forward to hearing your response to this.”

A customer support worker wrote back: “I notice that we have received the message in [a] foreign language. I request you to kindly send the message in English and we will be glad to assist you further. I sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused to you.”

Lloyd replied (in English): “I am based in Wrecsam, Wales, and our language is Welsh, therefore not foreign in my country.”

The bank then did reply in Welsh and said the request should have been forwarded to the Welsh department.

An HSBC spokesman said: “We apologise for any offence this may have caused Ms Lloyd, that was not our intention. We have a Welsh-speaking team and work hard to provide Welsh-language services for those customers who prefer to converse in Welsh, but unfortunately on this occasion we fell short. We have contacted Ms Lloyd to apologise and are looking what can be done to prevent this from happening again.”

Last year, the Welsh-language commissioner, Meri Huws, asked Welsh speakers how they felt banks treated them.

She reported: “There was a general feeling among customers that Welsh-language services were deteriorating. Many said that it was impossible to do any online banking in Welsh. Several said the closure of branches had a negative impact on their ability to discuss their money in Welsh. Others said Welsh-language telephone banking services were inconsistent and that the service was not being promoted adequately.”

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https://www.theguardian.com/news/2019/f ... ryacht-art

Mind my Picasso… superyacht owners struggle to protect art

Billionaires try to cut risk to priceless paintings from flying champagne corks


Joe Lewis, who owns Tottenham Hotspur FC, keeps Francis Bacon’s Triptych on the lower deck of his yacht Aviva.


From champagne corks flying towards a Picasso to cornflakes splashed on a Basquiat painting, the perils facing billionaires’ floating art collections aren’t those sailors typically fear on the high seas. But the world’s ultra-rich are filling superyachts with so many masterpieces that conservationists are teaching captains and crew how to care for art as well as to pamper passengers.

Pandora Mather-Lees, an Oxford-educated art historian and conservationist, started giving lessons after a billionaire asked for help to restore a Jean-Michel Basquiat painting damaged not by sea spray, but by breakfast cereal. “His kids had thrown their cornflakes at it over breakfast on his yacht because they thought it was scary,” Mather-Lees said. “And the crew had made the damage worse by wiping them off the painting.”

She declined to name the owner or identify the artwork, but a Basquiat painting depicting a crazed, skull-shaped face sold at auction for a US record $110.5m (£84.5m) in 2017.

The crew “just thought it was some painting, they had no idea it was worth many millions,” Mather-Lees told the Observer at a superyacht conference in London last week. “They are expected to know how to serve the owners at sea, not to know about paintings and art. But, now that the rich are increasingly bringing their art collections on board their yachts it’s vital that captains and crew know how to care for these pieces.”


A painting by Jean-Michel Basquiat was damaged at sea by children throwing cornflakes over it.

There are superyachts with “better collections than some national museums,” Mather-Lees said, describing one yacht with more than 800 pieces of art that are worth more than double the vessel itself. “Obviously they [the owners] want to show off their art collection when guests come on board … It acts as an icebreaker, and says volumes about their taste,” she told an audience of more than 100 people at the Superyacht Investor conference in the Landmark Hotel. “But yachts are not art galleries and when something goes wrong it’s obviously very unfortunate and a big burden on the crew and the owners become very unhappy.”

Discretion is required in both the art world and on superyachts, but Mather-Lees said Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan, the owner of Manchester City and deputy prime minister of the United Arab Emirates, has several hundred pieces aboard his £350m superyacht Topaz.

A reporter looking in the windows of Joe Lewis’s £200m superyacht Aviva, when it moored on the Thames last year, discovered Francis Bacon’s Triptych 1974–1977 was hanging in gold frames on the lower deck. The painting, whose subject is the death of Bacon’s lover George Dyer, was included in Tate Britain’s blockbuster Bacon and Freud exhibition last summer.

The British-born Lewis, who has an estimated £3.9bn fortune, owns a majority stake in Tottenham football club and lives in the tax-friendly Bahamas, has what he describes as “one of the largest private art collections in the world”. It includes paintings by Degas, Freud, Klimt, Modigliani, Matisse and Picasso, and sculptures by Moore, Degas and Di Modica. It is not known which are kept on his yacht.


Sheikh Mansour bin Zayed al-Nahyan has several hundred pieces of art aboard his superyacht.

Mather-Lees said that she saw a gap in the market for art awareness and handling lessons while walking around the Monaco yacht show, where the world’s biggest superyachts are displayed every September. “I was walking around and seeing talks about everything from flower arranging and wine connoisseur lessons, but no one was thinking about art and assisting the owners with care of their collections,” she said.

Her €295-a-day course aims to give crew an understanding of “the art collector and the intrinsic value of the objects on board” as well as knowledge of “where to go for specialist help in an emergency”.

Helen Robertson, a conservator at the National Maritime Museum in Greenwich, also advises the super-rich on caring for art at sea. “I used to work as a chief steward on superyachts so I have seen some of the problems first hand,” she said. “I’ve worked on a vessel with $450m of works of cultural value on board.

“Something people always say to me is ‘why on earth would you carry art on yachts?’,” she said. “But yachts can be very controllable. Systems for temperature and humidity can surpass those you would find in galleries.”

The most important thing was to make sure that all the crew were aware of the value of pieces.

She told of the crew who broke a £75,000 lamp. “It was the end of a Christmas and new year charter, and everyone was a bit worse for wear,” she said. “The crew decided to rugby pass the cushions from the deck into the saloon, and one of them hit the lamp.”

In another incident, a superyacht crew held an impromptu party in the owner’s quarters and a champagne cork struck the canvas of a multi-million pound work.

Tilman Kriesel, founder of an art advisory firm, told the conference one client asked how to display a Rothko that was too tall for a yacht’s grand saloon. “We turned the piece by 90 degrees,” he said. “The artist would probably be turning in his grave, but we took a deep breath and said ‘it’s your painting, do what you like’.”

Another of Kriesel’s clients had a piece by the Japanese modern artist Takashi Murakami that he wanted to display in the “beach club” – the rear of superyachts where owners access jet skis and other water toys – but again it was the wrong size. “In the end we cut it up to make it fit,” he said.