Headlines
Americas
Courts in 39 American states still admit the “gay-panic” defence
DANIEL SPENCER was a quiet, 32-year-old film editor who had recently moved to Austin, Texas from Los Angeles. He was also gay. In 2015 his neighbour, James Miller, stabbed him to death. The case was harrowing. But a legal quirk uncovered during the trial made it even worse. Mr Miller introduced the “gay-panic” defence in court, arguing that at some...
Venezuela’s regime will win the legislative election, by a lot
“WE ARE going to rescue the National Assembly,” sing Chucho y Omar Acedo, a pop duo hired by the Venezuelan regime to drum up enthusiasm for the forthcoming parliamentary election. Their catchy ode to the government, broadcast repeatedly on state media, makes it seem simple. “A future with greatness is arriving ...Happiness and hope are returning,”...
The end of the embarrassment
APPALLING AS IT has been to witness an American president try to steal an election, Donald Trump’s efforts have amounted to less than the best-informed prognosticators feared. Back in June a bipartisan group of over 100 political operatives and scholars, gathered by the Election Integrity Project, war-gamed the aftermath of four scenarios: an unclear...
A book on transitioning girls is denounced as transphobic
A TEENAGE GIRL who decides to alter her body so that it resembles a boy’s commits herself to a lifetime of medical treatments. “Top surgery”—a double mastectomy—is a major operation. She must take regular, large doses of testosterone. This may increase her chance of developing heart problems. It also causes the uterus to atrophy, often painfully,...
The “gay-panic” defence remains legally admissible in 39 American states
DANIEL SPENCER was a quiet, 32-year-old film editor who had recently moved to Austin, Texas from Los Angeles. He was also gay. In 2015 his neighbour, James Miller, stabbed him to death. The case was harrowing. But a legal quirk uncovered during the trial made it even worse. Mr Miller introduced the “gay-panic” defence in court, arguing that at some...
Asia Pacific
SANNE appoints new business development director in Tokyo
Makoto Nagao, has been appointed to the newly created role of Director, Business Development adding further strength to SANNE’s Asia-Pacific business. With more than 35 years of experience, Nagao-san brings a wealth of knowledge, following a lengthy career with Sumitomo Mitsui Financial Group, SMFG. While he was at SMFG, Nagao-san was General Manager...
Crayfish.io launches UK’s first funded initiative to get businesses China-ready
A ground-breaking initiative with a £500k investment fund dedicated to helping UK businesses get ‘China-ready’ has been launched in Cambridge by global online platform, Crayfish.io. Starting in September, the Crayfish China Accelerator programme - which has secured UK-China Enterprise Ltd (UKCE), a Chinese-capital-backed VC fund, as its...
SANNE opens new office in Mumbai, India
SANNE, a leading global provider of alternative asset and corporate services has further extended its global reach with the opening of a new office in Mumbai, India. With existing offices in 18 leading international finance centres, SANNE now has a local presence in one of the world’s fastest growing alternative markets and is also pleased to announce...
SANNE secures new bookkeeping licence in China
SANNE, a leading global provider of alternative asset and corporate administration services obtains new bookkeeping licence in China boosting its already strong proposition. The new licence expands SANNE’s existing product offering in China, adding bookkeeping, accounting and tax preparation services for Chinese registered entities. Jing Jing...
SANNE appoints Country Head to lead its Singapore business
Adding further expertise and knowledge to its APAC business As a leading global provider of alternative asset and corporate business services, SANNE is pleased to announce the appointment of David Fowler to the role of Country Head − Singapore with immediate effect. Based in SANNE’s Singapore office, David will be taking over the role from Valérie...
Europe
Augusta raises additional $115m for litigation and dispute funding
Investment in response to growing demand from lawyers Augusta, the UK’s largest litigation and disputes funder by case volume announces it has raised a further US $115m from a multi-billion-dollar US-based investment manager. In 2018, Augusta secured £150m from a global investment fund, to finance business growth and investment in funding cases....
An affiliate of Sun European Partners announces that it has completed the sale of Famosa
Sun European Partners, LLP (“Sun European Partners” or “Sun”) today announces that one of its affiliates has completed the sale of Fábricas Agrupadas de Muñecas de Onil, S.A. (“Famosa” or “the Company”), a leading designer, developer, manufacturer and distributer of toys in Spain and throughout the world, to Giochi Preziosi S.p.A.. Famosa,...
Huge Tax Changes for Self-Employed Following Publication of New Legislation
On 11 July 2019, the Government published draft legislation outlining the IR35 changes coming to the private sector, which are expected to affect 250,000 businesses. The reform will impact users and suppliers of personal service company contractors in the private sector. Companies have only nine months to plan for the new off-payroll changes, as they...
Young people pick their banking partners for the future
Battle of the brands Generation Z calls the brands it will bank on in 2030 Britain Banks most trusted for handling payments and safe storage of dataTech brands first choice for creating smart, real-time servicesAs a sector, financial services scores poorly for ethics and positive social impact More than two in five young people (43%) believe that...
Alcentra Closes Significant Capital Raise for its European Direct Lending Strategy
Record €5.5 billion raise reflects strong investor demand, Alcentra’s track record of deployment and returns Alcentra, one of Europe’s largest and longest tenured managers of private debt and part of BNY Mellon Investment Management, has announced the close of its latest European direct lending capital raise. The firm has raised €5.5...
Mena
Ethiopia Claims Victory in Tigray Conflict After Shelling Restive Region’s Capital
ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia — Ethiopia claimed victory in its conflict with the restive region of Tigray on Saturday, after a daylong series of artillery strikes against the regional capital, a city of half a million people.With communications shut off, there was no way to independently confirm the government’s claim, and the leadership of Tigray had...
Pentagon Chief Visits Somalia Ahead of Expected Troop Cuts
WASHINGTON — Acting Defense Secretary Christopher C. Miller met with American troops and diplomats in Somalia on Friday, the first Pentagon chief to visit the strife-torn East African nation. He may also be the last.The three-hour visit to Mogadishu, the Somali capital, came as the acting secretary was wrapping up an overseas trip to the Middle East...
Jailed, Exiled and Silenced: Smothering East Africa’s Political Opposition
NAIROBI, Kenya — Since the presidential campaign kicked off in Uganda in early November, the most prominent opposition candidate, Bobi Wine, has been tear-gassed, arrested and beaten by the police, held in solitary confinement, and charged in court for holding campaign events in violation of coronavirus restrictions.“I know they want me dead as...
Edward J. Perkins, 92, Dies; First Black U.S. Envoy to South Africa
When Edward J. Perkins was a student at a segregated school in Pine Bluff, Ark., his history teacher taught the class about the brutal racial oppression in South Africa. It was even worse, the students were told, than what they as Black people were experiencing in the American South.The teacher urged her students to donate what little change they had...
Ethiopia’s Leader Escalates Assault on Tigray Region, Putting Civilians at Risk
NAIROBI, Kenya — Just over three weeks ago, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed of Ethiopia unleashed his military forces in an attempt to subdue the country’s northern region of Tigray, whose rebellious governing party was until recently the dominant force in Ethiopia’s central government.On Thursday, Mr. Ahmed ratcheted up the conflict, ordering what...
International
The money doctors
IN MARCH 1868 a prospectus appeared for a new kind of money-market scheme. The Foreign & Colonial Government Trust would invest £1m ($5m at the time) in a selection of bonds. For £85 an investor could buy one of 11,765 certificates giving an equal share. The trust promised a 7% yield. Its aim was to give “the investor of moderate means the same...
Frogs and princes
WHO ARE the heirs of Robert Fleming, the 19th-century Scot who saw that America was the coming place to put risk capital? The venture capitalists of Silicon Valley have the best claim. The businesses that loom largest in public equity markets—Amazon, Apple, Facebook, Google, Tesla and the rest—were nurtured by VCs. Venture-backed companies account...
Double trouble
SOMEONE WISE once said that all the problems of capitalism are agency problems. Agency costs arise when somebody (the principal) delegates a task to somebody else (the agent) and their interests are at odds. In the textbook example, the principal is a manager, the agents are employees. It is in the manager’s interest that the agent works hard. The...
Taking back control
THE NOTION of the “first 100 days” as critical for a new administration goes back at least as far as Franklin Roosevelt. He first used the term in a radio address in 1933, shortly after becoming America’s 32nd president. Private equity has its own version. The 100-day plan sets priorities for a bought-out business. The new owner looks for “quick...
Stewards’ inquiry
ROBERT FLEMING has a claim to be a pioneer of active asset management. His First Scottish investment trust pledged to invest mostly in American securities, with choices informed by on-the-ground research. Fleming saw that shareholders needed to act as stewards in the governance of the businesses that they part-owned. So once the fund was launched, in...