A law professor put forward as Italy's next premier faced suspicions on Tuesday that he overstated his academic credentials, including referring on his resume to seven summers of studies at New York University that turned out to involve only having library privileges there.
The 12-page resume covering the years since Guiseppe Conte earned his law degree from Rome's Sapienza University in 1988 includes entries for time spent at an array of top universities in the United States, Britain and France, without specifying the courses or areas of research he undertook.
The curriculum vitae states that Mr Conte, 53, "stayed" at Paris Sorbonne University in 2000 and Cambridge University's Girton College in 2001 for scientific research. The resume also states he "perfected and updated his studies" at New York University during the summers of 2008-2014.
In a statement on Tuesday, New York University said records showed that Mr Conte had "no official status" at the school, but "was granted permission to conduct research in the NYU Law library" during the same years listed on his resume.
University spokeswoman Michelle Tsai added that Mr Conte also "invited an NYU Law professor to serve on the board of an Italian law journal."
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Mr Conte did not respond on Tuesday to the speculation he padded his official resume, which was submitted to the Italian parliament in 2013.
The 5-Star Movement, one of the populist forces that proposed the University of Florence professor without political experience as premier, offered a vigorous defense.
Mr Conte "never boasted" of holding degrees from foreign universities, but "stayed abroad to study, enrich his knowledge and perfect his juridical English. For a professor of his level, the opposite would have been strange," the movement said.
Cambridge declined to confirm an affiliation with Mr Conte, citing privacy, and the Sorbonne didn't immediately respond to queries.
The resume also says Mr Conte studied at the International Kultur Institut in Vienna in 1993. No school responding to that name could be located in Vienna, but a language school called the Internationales Kulturinstitut declined to comment, citing privacy issues.
Mr Conte's CV further notes that he taught a course in European contract and banking law at the University of Malta during the summer of 1997.
The University of Malta said on Tuesday it has no record of Mr Conte "ever forming part of the resident academic staff," but added that "he may have been involved in lecturing duties during short courses organised in the summer of 1997" by a now-defunct foundation that worked with the university.
Analyst Wolfango Piccoli, co-founder of Teneo Intelligence, said he didn't expect an exaggerated resume to necessarily affect Italian President Sergio Mattarella's deliberations over whether to formally tap Mr Conte to form a government.
"Embellishing resumes is sport in Italy," Mr Piccoli said, adding that "only an academic would have a 12-page CV."
Political observers in Italy think a bigger issue for Mr Conte is persuading the president he would have the independence to lead a coalition government composed of the 5-Stars and the anti-immigrant League, and not just be an executor of the populists' wishes.
The 5-Stars began circulating Mr Conte's name as a possible Cabinet minister several months ago, but he never participated in the elections or in the drafting of the government programme he would be expected to carry out as premier.
He surfaced as a possible candidate to lead the Italian government after 5-Star leader Luigi Di Maio and League leader Matteo Salvini agreed over the weekend not to fight each other for the job.
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Far-right, populist surge leaves Italy in limbo
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Paola Lucarelli, a professor of business law at the University of Florence, where Mr Conte currently teaches, said the professor would bring to a new government "his ability to mediate, a gift that maybe is not very common in politics."
Mr Conte also has solid institutional Catholic credentials. He taught at the Vatican-affiliated LUMSA university in the mid-1990s and has close ties with Cardinal Achille Silvestrini, one of the behind-the-scenes power brokers in the Italian church and at the Vatican.
During his university years in Rome, Mr Conte lived at the Holy See-affiliated Villa Nazareth, a residential college that provides low-income students with a place to live in the Italian capital while they pursue their studies.
Mr Conte was precisely the type of motivated but economically disadvantaged Italians that Villa Nazareth sought out, said Nicholas Cafardi, a canon lawyer at Duquesne University, which has an exchange programme with Villa Nazareth.
"He's a 'pull-himself-up-by-his-bootstraps' type," Mr Cafardi said. "He's gotten where he is today because of very, very hard work."
While at Villa Nazareth, Mr Conte became friends with Mr Silvestrini, the cardinal who runs the residence, and then went on to become one of his lawyers. Mr Cafardi said he met Mr Conte in 1992 when Silvestrini and Conte visited the United States to set up a fundraising foundation, since disbanded, for Villa Nazareth.
"He's a great guy," Mr Cafardi said. "I feel like he's walking in the lion's den with Salvini and Di Maio, but we'll see."
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In numbers: China in Dubai
The number of Chinese people living in Dubai: An estimated 200,000
Number of Chinese people in International City: Almost 50,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2018/19: 120,000
Daily visitors to Dragon Mart in 2010: 20,000
Percentage increase in visitors in eight years: 500 per cent
The Internet
Hive Mind
four stars
Our legal advisor
Ahmad El Sayed is Senior Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys, a law firm headquartered in London with offices in the UK, Europe, the Middle East and Hong Kong.
Experience: Commercial litigator who has assisted clients with overseas judgments before UAE courts. His specialties are cases related to banking, real estate, shareholder disputes, company liquidations and criminal matters as well as employment related litigation.
Education: Sagesse University, Beirut, Lebanon, in 2005.
At a glance
Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.
Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year
Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month
Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30
Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse
Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth
Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances
ABU DHABI ORDER OF PLAY
Starting at 10am:
Daria Kasatkina v Qiang Wang
Veronika Kudermetova v Annet Kontaveit (10)
Maria Sakkari (9) v Anastasia Potapova
Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova v Ons Jabeur (15)
Donna Vekic (16) v Bernarda Pera
Ekaterina Alexandrova v Zarina Diyas
Ms Yang's top tips for parents new to the UAE
- Join parent networks
- Look beyond school fees
- Keep an open mind
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.”
Series info
Test series schedule 1st Test, Abu Dhabi: Sri Lanka won by 21 runs; 2nd Test, Dubai: Play starts at 2pm, Friday-Tuesday
ODI series schedule 1st ODI, Dubai: October 13; 2nd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 16; 3rd ODI, Abu Dhabi: October 18; 4th ODI, Sharjah: October 20; 5th ODI, Sharjah: October 23
T20 series schedule 1st T20, Abu Dhabi: October 26; 2nd T20, Abu Dhabi: October 27; 3rd T20, Lahore: October 29
Tickets Available at www.q-tickets.com
Stat Fourteen Fourteen of the past 15 Test matches in the UAE have been decided on the final day. Both of the previous two Tests at Dubai International Stadium have been settled in the last session. Pakistan won with less than an hour to go against West Indies last year. Against England in 2015, there were just three balls left.
Key battle - Azhar Ali v Rangana Herath Herath may not quite be as flash as Muttiah Muralitharan, his former spin-twin who ended his career by taking his 800th wicket with his final delivery in Tests. He still has a decent sense of an ending, though. He won the Abu Dhabi match for his side with 11 wickets, the last of which was his 400th in Tests. It was not the first time he has owned Pakistan, either. A quarter of all his Test victims have been Pakistani. If Pakistan are going to avoid a first ever series defeat in the UAE, Azhar, their senior batsman, needs to stand up and show the way to blunt Herath.
Squid Game season two
Director: Hwang Dong-hyuk
Stars: Lee Jung-jae, Wi Ha-joon and Lee Byung-hun
Rating: 4.5/5
MATCH INFO
Hoffenheim v Liverpool
Uefa Champions League play-off, first leg
Location: Rhein-Neckar-Arena, Sinsheim
Kick-off: Tuesday, 10.45pm (UAE)
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
Banned items
Dubai Police has also issued a list of banned items at the ground on Sunday. These include:
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Political flags or banners
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Bikes, skateboards or scooters
Living in...
This article is part of a guide on where to live in the UAE. Our reporters will profile some of the country’s most desirable districts, provide an estimate of rental prices and introduce you to some of the residents who call each area home.
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Porsche Macan T: The Specs
Engine: 2.0-litre 4-cyl turbo
Power: 265hp from 5,000-6,500rpm
Torque: 400Nm from 1,800-4,500rpm
Transmission: 7-speed dual-clutch auto
Speed: 0-100kph in 6.2sec
Top speed: 232kph
Fuel consumption: 10.7L/100km
On sale: May or June
Price: From Dh259,900
