how goldmans cost gaddafi a 13bn fortune
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today
Egypt Today, egypt today
Last Updated : GMT 09:07:40
Egypt Today, egypt today

How Goldmans cost Gaddafi a $1.3bn fortune

Egypt Today, egypt today

Egypt Today, egypt today How Goldmans cost Gaddafi a $1.3bn fortune

London - Arabstoday

Goldman Sachs managed to lose nearly all of the money it had been given to invest by the Libyan government, which eventually led the giant Wall Street bank to offer shares as compensation that would have effectively made Colonel Gaddafi one of its largest single investors. The Libyan Investment Authority, a sovereign wealth fund worth tens of billions of dollars into which the Gaddafi administration poured the money it made from oil sales, handed over $1.3bn to the bank in 2008 with a mandate to invest in foreign currency markets and other structured products. The deal was struck months before the onset of the financial crisis, and sources close to the bank yesterday claimed that the LIA had initially been uninterested when Goldman told it that the value of the investment had lost several hundreds of millions of dollars. But by early 2009 Goldman Sachs had lost 98 per cent of what it had been given, according to a report in The Wall Street Journal. It is believed that senior Goldman Sachs officials were then summoned to Tripoli, and were told that, after losing the cash in just a handful of complex trades, the bank would need to offer some sort of compensation. The bank alleges that its officials were physically threatened during meetings in Tripoli, but denies that it hired bodyguards for its staff. Along with several other Western companies, Goldman Sachs was eager to get its hands on some of the newly available Libyan wealth after international sanctions were lifted against the country in 2004. The LIA was, until the start of the country's civil war this year, feted by the likes of HSBC, JP Morgan and Lehman Brothers as well as Goldman Sachs and other large companies in Europe and the United States. When Colonel Gaddafi's security forces were ordered to put down pro-democracy demonstrations that began in February, the LIA's assets were frozen. Goldman Sachs is understood to still hold at least three different accounts containing LIA money; two in its asset management division and one in foreign exchange, a legacy of the initial $1.3bn. The bank yesterday declined to give details of how much money it was holding, but said that the accounts had been frozen in line with worldwide efforts to throttle the Gaddafi regime. Such was the scramble to mollify the LIA that talks on how Goldman should appease Colonel Gaddafi's government were held at the highest level of the bank – including the bank's CEO, Lloyd Blankfein, and Michael Sherwood, its leading executive in Europe, the Middle East and Africa. An offer was eventually made to the regime in Tripoli to take preference shares, a complicated financial instrument that pays a fixed dividend, but which does not necessarily give the holder an equity stake in the bank. According to sources at Goldman Sachs, talks about how to recompense the Gaddafi regime lasted for more than a year and culminated in a meeting at Goldman Sachs' London headquarters on 23 June last year. Those sources, who declined to be named, said that the bank has had no contact with the Libyan regime or representatives of the LIA since that meeting. Goldman Sachs and other companies that have LIA holdings could come under pressure to release the Libyan assets to the National Transitional Council, which a number of countries, including France and Qatar, have recognised as the legitimate government in Libya.

egypttoday
egypttoday

Name *

E-mail *

Comment Title*

Comment *

: Characters Left

Mandatory *

Terms of use

Publishing Terms: Not to offend the author, or to persons or sanctities or attacking religions or divine self. And stay away from sectarian and racial incitement and insults.

I agree with the Terms of Use

Security Code*

how goldmans cost gaddafi a 13bn fortune how goldmans cost gaddafi a 13bn fortune



GMT 09:51 2016 Tuesday ,29 March

Back to drawing board for new father Murray

GMT 09:17 2017 Monday ,13 February

RAK police seek help to locate missing girl

GMT 21:52 2011 Monday ,08 August

Leverkusen\'s Giefer hospitalised

GMT 23:05 2017 Wednesday ,25 January

Millions travel for China’s Lunar New Year festival

GMT 23:06 2017 Tuesday ,24 January

Pakistan military tests nuclear-capable missile

GMT 11:34 2017 Tuesday ,14 February

Artist makes NY fashion week debut on a bus

GMT 14:35 2018 Monday ,22 January

Azza Fahmy Jewellery announces UK store launch

GMT 07:41 2014 Wednesday ,19 March

Nail brand The Lacquer Lab launches

GMT 15:19 2011 Tuesday ,02 August

Orwellian Barton forced to train alone by Newcastle

GMT 12:25 2016 Wednesday ,14 December

Evaluation of Participating Companies Goes in Full Swing

GMT 13:37 2017 Monday ,25 December

Abducted Yemenis kept in chains in Houthi jails
 
 Egypt Today Facebook,egypt today facebook  Egypt Today Twitter,egypt today twitter Egypt Today Rss,egypt today rss  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube  Egypt Today Youtube,egypt today youtube

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2021 ©

egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday egypttoday egypttoday
egypttoday
بناية النخيل - رأس النبع _ خلف السفارة الفرنسية _بيروت - لبنان
egypttoday, Egypttoday, Egypttoday