Jokers of German Poker: Sovereign Asset Fund of Monaco!
noher...@yahoo.com
Two New Zealand brothers as front to biggest Reich Operations in
Russia, Korea, Latin America.
German Press in America is very polite to Richard and Christopher
Chandler of New Zaland, cover owners of Monaco based Fund that is
conquering Russia and Latin America.
Low profile never upset!!
There are many ways of undermining the Monroe Doctrine.
And this here, New Zealand-Monaco cover for Elector of hanover, is
one of them.
Just like 1506 when a Dutch cover was used for takeover of Spain by
German King.
Just like 1688 when a Dutch cover was used for takeover of Britain by
German King.
Elector of Hanover is now the next dynast to Monaco.
Monaco based Sovereign Asset is conquering Korea, Russia, Latin
America.
Sovereign Asset is supposedly own by two Scottish brothers from New
Zealand.
Just like two daughters of James II Stuart were used as cover for
German kings to Britain.
Captive Queens Mary and Anne Stewart!
Their husbands Dukes of Nassau and Oldenburg as dynasts to Britain.
Making the way for elector of Hanover to become king of Britain.
German intrigue always with petty covers.
This time Chandler brothers own Sovereign Asset!
Next time Chandler sisters will appear to own Gestapo and Stasi.
Like Scottish rites to all German lodges in Americas.
From the press
Monaco based Sovereign Fund, owned by New Zealand brothers Richard and
Christopher Chandler
SK chief fends off Sovereign ouster attempt
Other shareholders were cautious about a future under Monaco-based
Sovereign.
Sovereign's attempt to dump Chey, 43, was contained in a set of
proposals that failed.
It did not explicitly name Chey. Rather it said any director who had
been convicted would lose his seat. Chey received a three-year jail
term last year resulting from an accounting scandal. He is out on bail
as he appeals his case.
The proposals required a two-thirds approval to pass.
Sovereign's proposals received 51 percent of the vote. They included a
reduction of director terms to one year from three and cumulative
voting, which would have allowed a shareholder to cast all his votes
for one board candidate.. The voting system helps minority investors
elect at least one nominee.
Sovereign purchased its current stake in SK Corp. through wholly owned
subsidiary Crest Securities from March 26 to April 9 last year.
Shortly afterward, the Monaco fund controlled by the secretive New
Zealand brothers Richard and Christopher Chandler began to demand
corporate governance reforms at SK Corp. and for the removal of Chey.
SK Corp. vs. Sovereign chronology
March 11, 2003 - 1.6 trillion won ($1.3 billion) accounting fraud
revealed at SK Global, later renamed SK Networks.
March 26 to April 9, 2003 - Sovereign Asset Management Ltd. purchases
14.99 percent stake in SK Corp. through subsidiary Crest Securities
Ltd.
June 13, 2003 - Chey Tae-won, SK Group owner and chairman and chief
executive of SK Corp., is sentenced to three-year jail term over SK
Global accounting fraud. SK Group board member Son Kil-seung and group
president Kim Chang-geun receive suspended prison terms.
October 2003 - Chey is released on bail pending an appeal.
Oct. 26, 2003 - SK Corp.'s board formally approves 850 billion won
bailout of SK Networks.
Dec. 18, 2003 - SK Corp.'s board formally approves 143 billion won
bailout of SK Shipping and sale of 10.4 percent stake to Hana Bank and
other SK allies
Dec. 23, 2003 - Court rejects Sovereign's injunction to prevent SK
Corp. from selling stakes to allies.
Jan. 10, 2004 - Son Kil-seung is arrested for tax evasion,
embezzlement of funds.
Jan. 29, 2004 - Sovereign nominates five candidates, proposes
amendments.
Feb. 22, 2004 - SK Corp. nominates six candidates, proposes
amendments. The company decides not to renew Son Kil-seung and Kim
Chang-geun for its board when their terms expire at the end of the
year.
Feb. 24, 2004 - Chey Tae-won and Son Kil-Seung resign from SK
Telecom's management.
March 12, 2004 - SK Corp. holds annual general shareholders' meeting.
By Rafael Nam, Kim Jong-hoon, Lee Chae-eun
2004.03.13
Before the start of the meeting, the National Pension Corp., a state
pension operator with a 3.6 percent share in the refiner, said it
would support SK Group in the vote to elect new directors.Sovereign
purchased its current stake in SK Corp. through wholly owned
subsidiary Crest Securities from March 26 to April 9 last year.
Shortly afterward, the Monaco fund controlled by the secretive New
Zealand brothers Richard and Christopher Chandler began to demand
corporate governance reforms at SK Corp. and for the removal of Chey.
Under strong pressure from Sovereign, SK Corp. decided not to renew
the terms of several board members, including Son Kil-seung and Kim
Chang-geun, the company president. Both had received suspended prison
sentences for their roles in the SK Global accounting fraud. SK Corp.
also vowed to improve corporate governance. (rafa...@heraldm.com)
(The Korea Herald)
www.sov.com/page.asp?partID=70
Gazprom and Sovereign Asset Management Affirm Commitment to Common
Goals
Gazprom’s CEO Alexei Miller met in Moscow yesterday with the CEO
and President of Sovereign Asset Management, Richard & Christopher
Chandler.
Sovereign is the largest portfolio investor in Gazprom, and has been
investing in Russia and Gazprom for almost ten years. Sovereign has a
history of promoting good corporate governance in Russia and
throughout the markets where it invests.
About Sovereign Asset Management
Sovereign is a privately owned international investment organization
which has been active in global capital markets for over 20 years.
Sovereign is a major participant in global emerging markets and has at
various times been the largest international portfolio investor in
markets as diverse as Brazil, the Czech Republic and Russia.
Sovereign is a patient, value investor that invests for the long term.
Under normal circumstances, Sovereign's average investment horizon
exceeds 4 years. Sovereign is not a hedge fund, does not use leverage
and has never engaged in the short sale of securities.
Sovereign identifies its key strengths and defining characteristics as
being its independence, integrity and long-term investment
perspective. As a long-term investor, Sovereign seeks to actively
promote the highest standards of corporate governance, transparency
and shareholder rights in the markets in which it invests, for the
benefit of the company, the community and all shareholders alike.
Joint-Stock Company Gazprom
Press Service
phones: (095) 719-47-32
fax: (095) 719-83-44
e-mail: p...@gazprom.ru
http://www.gazprom.ru
Sovereign Asset Management
Monte Carlo, Monaco
Press Service:
Quiller Consultants
London, England
+44 (207) 233 9444
www.sov.com/page.asp?partID=68
Investment In UFJ Is Long-Term
Nihon Keizai Shimbun, Friday, February 13, 2004
Investment In UFJ Is Long-Term
Largest shareholder, Sovereign, is positive about investing in other
Japanese banks
TOKYO (Nikkei)--Sovereign Asset Management Ltd., the top shareholder
in UFJ Holdings Inc. (8307), will hold onto its stake in the Japanese
banking group with a long-term perspective, according to visiting top
executives including Richard Chandler, chairman of the Monaco-based
private investment firm.
Sovereign says their investment policy toward UFJ takes a
long-term perspective
” over the coming years and that they are
“always open to other investment opportunities in Japanese
financial institutions,
” hinting at a willingness to invest in other Mega Banks.
About Sovereign Asset Management [side bar included with the article]
Sovereign invests long-term in shares that are trading at a discount
to their intrinsic values. They have significant investments in many
countries, including Brazil, Czech Republic, and Russia. They entered
the spotlight by becoming the largest shareholder of UFJ with a stake
in excess of 5%.
(The Nihon Keizai Shimbun Friday morning edition)
www.cdi.org/russia/johnson/5339.html
Financial Times (UK)
July 6, 2001
The discreet power behind Russia's private sector: The Chandler
brothers
exert an extraordinary influence over Moscow's equity markets
By ANDREW JACK
From an apartment overlooking the tax haven of Monaco, where
successive
waves of old White Russian emigres and New Russian "oligarchs" have
made
their homes, two brothers from New Zealand exert an extraordinary
influence
over the development of Moscow's equity markets.
Richard and Christopher Chandler are among a handful of intensely
private
but powerful individual investors who have taken significant stakes in
some
of Russia's most high-profile companies and used their influence to
fight
for improved corporate governance in order to raise the share price.
Yet they have managed to keep the fact of their own involvement
extremely
low-profile. "They prefer to talk about tennis or golf than their
business," says one friend. "They are well-known in Monaco, likeable -
and
very discreet."
Moscow insiders identify the Chandlers' fingerprints on the recent
bitter
fight over Gazprom. They estimate that the brothers own up to 4 per
cent of
the company, making them probably the third largest shareholder after
the
Russian government and Ruhrgas of Germany.
"They are sharp, smart, and work very hard as advocates of their
cause,"
says one individual who has dealt with them. Along with his
colleagues, he
prefers to remain anonymous, given both the Chandlers' tough approach
to
business and the largesse they show to the financial intermediaries
they use.
Brought up in Hamilton, a town in the north of New Zealand, and in
their
40s, the Chandlers inherited a retailing chain from their father, and
by
the 1980s were investing in emerging markets.
Their first fortune was made in the Hong Kong property market. Then
they
shifted to Latin America, speculating on debt and buying into the
Brazilian
company Telebras.
By the early 1990s, with the former Communist regimes crumbling, they
started investing in the Czech Republic, before moving further east.
"Russia has probably taken their wealth from Dollars 600m to over
Dollars
1bn," estimates one acquaintance. "They tried to find mispriced
assets, and
leverage up very aggressively," says another.
Their first investment in Russia was a private equity stake of several
million dollars in Sun Brewing, now part of Sun Interbrew. They pushed
hard
to seek a swift return on their money, demanding a listing via what
became
the country's first Global Depositary Share in 1994.
"In hindsight, we went public too early, when the market was not
ready,"
says Shiv Khemka, then executive director of Sun. "But the Chandlers
were
honourable and very professional."
Their longest and highest-profile fight began with the 1994
privatisation
of the Novolipetsk steel plant, in which they acquired a blocking
minority
stake of 25 per cent plus one share via the offshore vehicle Cambridge
Capital Management.
Boris Jordan, who had launched the investment bank Renaissance and
acquired
a stake in the company, worked with them before the two sides fell
out.
"They were moralistic and quite stubborn," says a financier. "If
something
could be done legally, they would do it, but they would not take part
in
offshore profit-taking schemes. Their game was improving market
capitalisation."
"They sometimes ask you to do things like writing a letter or
co-ordinating
a group of investors in your own name," says one acquaintance.
The brothers bought as much as 8 per cent in UES, the electricity
utility,
partly purchasing security held by Deutsche Bank. They also held a
significant share in Lukoil, the oil group.
But perhaps their biggest gamble was Gazprom. They have built a
holding
since 1997, using "grey schemes" which respect the letter, if not the
spirit, of legislation theoretically limiting foreigners to owning
American
Depositary Shares rather than domestic shares.
Renaissance was one of the largest brokers of domestic shares, but
having
fought Gazprom's management, it decided to wind down its positions.
Rival
UFG took up the slack. Today it manages an estimated 6 per cent of
Gazprom's shares, of which the Chandlers represent at least half. UFG
and
the Chandlers refused to comment.
Coupled with other friendly investors, UFG managed to amass 10 per
cent of
the votes cast at this year's annual general meeting and a similar
number
last year to put Boris Fyodorov, its chairman, on the board.
Observers say the Chandlers have strongly influenced Mr Fyodorov's
agenda,
to push for management change and an end to alleged asset-stripping.
With
the recent sharp rise in the share price, they are likely to have
already
made a profit. With the continuing campaign to bring down the
"ring-fence"
which would allow them to convert their domestic shares in ADSs, they
could
make much more.
So could UFG, with exit fees on their "grey schemes" of up to 4 per
cent.
But, as another broker warns: "One day the Chandlers will leave
Russia, and
never invest another cent."
www.aimma.org/newsletter/8.04.03_INDUSTRY_NEWS.pdf
Sovereign legal threat to SK Global bail-out
By Andrew Ward in Seoul
Published: July 31 2003 18:03
Sovereign Asset Management, the Monaco-based investment fund, has
threatened legal action to stop the bail-out of SK Global, the
scandal-ridden trading arm of South Korea's third-largest
conglomerate. The warning underlined the continued uncertainty
surrounding the future of SK Global, despite Wednesday's agreement by
domestic and foreign creditors to save the company from bankruptcy.
Creditors have made clear that their proposed bail-out of SK Global is
conditional on financial support from SK Corp, the trading company's
oil-refining affiliate. However, Sovereign, the largest shareholder in
SK Corp with nearly 15 per cent, is fiercely opposed to the company
providing assistance to SK Global, arguing it would be against
shareholders' interests. SK Corp's board provisionally agreed in June
to help bail out its sister company - but set a series of conditions
that had to be met first.
James Fitter, Sovereign's chief operating officer, said that because
those conditions had not been met, directors would expose themselves
to legal action if they went ahead with the bail-out. "They have put
in place safeguards for their shareholders by saying we will accept
the bail-out under certain conditions," said Mr Fitter. "We remain
optimistic that they won't ignore those conditions but if they do,
they would fully expect to be on the receiving end of legal action."
Among the conditions set by SK Corp was that SK Telecom, the group's
wireless subsidiary, must make a commitment to support SK Global
through continued trading with the company - but SKT has refused to
make any such pledge. Critics have argued that support for SK Global
by other SK companies would represent a step back towards the days
when South Korea's sprawling, family-controlled conglomerates, or
chaebol, used healthy businesses to prop up failing units. SK Global
has been on the brink of collapse since March, when it was found to
have fraudulently inflated its profits by $1.2bn, reviving concerns
about standards of corporate governance among the chaebol. Ten SK
executives were convicted of fraud but only one, Chey Tae-won,
chairman of SK Corp, was jailed. The other nine received suspended
sentences but kept their seats on the boards of SK companies. "We're
dismayed people convicted of fraud are still able to sit on the board
and make decisions," said Mr Fitter. Sovereign, controlled by New
Zealand brothers Richard and Christopher Chandler, aims to increase
the value of its investments in emerging markets by campaigning for
improved corporate governance. On Tuesday, Sovereign became the
biggest single shareholder in UFJ Holdings.