Western governments are clamping down on the assets of Hosni Mubarak and his family just four days after he stepped down from power.
A spokesman for the Switzerland foreign ministry said today that Swiss banks had begun disclosing to the government the assets of Mr Mubarak and his "entourage".
"That's all I can say about the subject," he told Bloomberg, declining to give a figure.
The Swiss government had frozen "any potential assets" belonging to Mr Mubarak and ten members of his family and "associates" last week, following a similar move it made against Tunisia's ex-president Zine al-Abidine Ben Ali and his entourage after he was forced out of power in January.
Billions of dollars are believed to have been amassed by the Mubarak family and businessmen connected to them during the 30 years Hosni Mubarak ruled Egypt, although no official accounts of their wealth exist.
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EFG Hermes, Egypt's largest investment bank, said in a statement on Monday that Mr Mubarak's son Gamal has owned 18 per cent of EFG Hermes Private Equity since 1997. The fund has US$919 million under management. Few other assets have been publicly identified.
The aggressive measures from the Swiss government are part of a broader attempt to improve the image of the country's famously secretive banking system.
Swiss President Micheline Calmy-Rey said Switzerland had to ensure it was not a haven for "dirty money" in an interview with the country's newspaper NZZ am Sonntag.
"It cannot be that right at our door some people embezzle state funds and put them into their own pocket," she said.
European powers were also weighing decisions to freeze the assets of Mr Mubarak and his family, but were waiting for an official request to be made from Egypt.
"We are in contact with the Egyptian authorities. We will take appropriate measures if this issue comes up, when necesssary," said Catherine Ashton, a spokeswoman for the European Union foreign policy chief, according to reports.
Egypt had also requested the US, France, Germany and the UK to freeze the assets of several former Egyptian politicians, who have not yet been revealed.
EU finance ministers were expected to discuss the requests from Egypt to freeze assets yesterday, but gave signs they were willing to cooperate.
A spokesman for Prime Minister David Cameron added that any action should come as part of an international arrangement, according to reports.
"As I understand the situation on asset freezing, there has to be some international effort... and a request has to be made" by the Egyptian authorities, the spokesman told reporters.
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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.
Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.
“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.
“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.
Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.
From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.
Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.
BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.
Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.
Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.
“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.
Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.
“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.
“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”
The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”
Company profile
Date started: 2015
Founder: John Tsioris and Ioanna Angelidaki
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