light_shiner
19-08-2009, 01:59 PM
A few weeks ago, by chance, whilst looking up some info on a UK based company that I have been interested in for a several years, I came across a news item relating to a company called Saad Investments Company Ltd who owned 30% of the company that I was concerned about.
According to a news item on the website of The New York Times, a Cayman Islands court had just frozen about $9 billion of assets belonging to the Saad Group of companies. In a related development the creditors of Saad Investments Company Ltd filed a petition seeking immediate repayment of nearly $3 billion. In a separate flling, creditors including Barclays Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland presented a winding up petition. Also, Barclays Private Bank Trust were listed as fourth defendant in a lawsuit against the Saad group. One of the Saad group of companies, namely Singularis bought a 3% stake in HSBC in 2007 and the stake is now worth an estimated $3 billion.
Consequently, as a result of legal actions taking place Cayman Islands, New York and the Middle East against Saad, there is financial turmoil in the Middle East. This morning, one observer estimated that "the scandal had knocked 500 points off the Saudi market index and would cost the Kingdom 0.5% of its growth this year." There are now allegations of massive fraud involving $10 million of allegedly misappropriated funds.
Now, I would have thought that the mention of HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland in an affair of this magnitude would have attracted some interest among financial commentators in the UK. But there has been a great silence without any significant mention that I can detect.
I decided to contact the business editor of one regional daily paper direct via email to draw his attention to the fact that a local business who have been given pages of very favourable exposure in his paper in the past had been mentioned by the New York Times in relation to a massive financial scandal as they were 30% owned by the company at the centre of the affair. Complete links to sources were provided so the information that I provided could be easily verified as correct. I thought that a story based on the fact that a prominent company in the region (who I knew to be in financial difficulties for some time) were involved in a major international financial incident would have been newsworthy. The outcome of my email - no response whatsoever.
The question that I would ask is - "Why is this affair being ignored by the UK media?"
According to a news item on the website of The New York Times, a Cayman Islands court had just frozen about $9 billion of assets belonging to the Saad Group of companies. In a related development the creditors of Saad Investments Company Ltd filed a petition seeking immediate repayment of nearly $3 billion. In a separate flling, creditors including Barclays Bank and Royal Bank of Scotland presented a winding up petition. Also, Barclays Private Bank Trust were listed as fourth defendant in a lawsuit against the Saad group. One of the Saad group of companies, namely Singularis bought a 3% stake in HSBC in 2007 and the stake is now worth an estimated $3 billion.
Consequently, as a result of legal actions taking place Cayman Islands, New York and the Middle East against Saad, there is financial turmoil in the Middle East. This morning, one observer estimated that "the scandal had knocked 500 points off the Saudi market index and would cost the Kingdom 0.5% of its growth this year." There are now allegations of massive fraud involving $10 million of allegedly misappropriated funds.
Now, I would have thought that the mention of HSBC, Barclays and Royal Bank of Scotland in an affair of this magnitude would have attracted some interest among financial commentators in the UK. But there has been a great silence without any significant mention that I can detect.
I decided to contact the business editor of one regional daily paper direct via email to draw his attention to the fact that a local business who have been given pages of very favourable exposure in his paper in the past had been mentioned by the New York Times in relation to a massive financial scandal as they were 30% owned by the company at the centre of the affair. Complete links to sources were provided so the information that I provided could be easily verified as correct. I thought that a story based on the fact that a prominent company in the region (who I knew to be in financial difficulties for some time) were involved in a major international financial incident would have been newsworthy. The outcome of my email - no response whatsoever.
The question that I would ask is - "Why is this affair being ignored by the UK media?"