New reforms outlined by the UK government would give courts the power to stop Russian oligarchs “abusing” the UK legal system to silence critics.
Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab will on Wednesday set out the measures, which take aim at so-called Strategic Lawsuits against Public Participation, or Slapps.
Courts will be able to throw out meritless claims more quickly and a cap will be placed on costs to prevent the super-rich from “bullying” journalists with the threat of expensive litigation, the Ministry of Justice said.
Slapps usually involve wealthy elites using legal action to try to stop journalists or campaigners from exposing wrongdoing under defamation and privacy laws.
The targets often receive a “barrage of aggressive legal letters” and retract stories before the cases make it to court for fear of the sky-high costs involved, the ministry said.
“We won’t let those bankrolling [Russian President Vladimir] Putin exploit the UK’s legal jurisdiction to muzzle their critics," Mr Raab said.
“So today, I’m announcing reforms to uphold freedom of speech, end the abuse of our justice system and defend those who bravely shine a light on corruption.”
Under the reforms, courts will be able to more quickly dismiss baseless claims, which they will identify through a three-part check.
The test will assess whether the case is against activity in the public interest, such as a fraud investigation, whether there was evidence of abuse of process, such as threatening correspondence, and whether the case has sufficient merit.
The new cost protection scheme is set to “level the playing field between wealthy claimants with deep pockets and defendants” by shielding defendants from crippling costs, the ministry said.
The government will “set out the design of the scheme and the precise level of cost caps in due course”, the ministry said.
The High Court this year dismissed a libel claim brought by Kazakh mining giant Eurasian Natural Resources against Financial Times journalist Tom Burgis about passages in his book Kleptopia: How Dirty Money is Conquering the World.
“Publication of these proposals is a significant step in tackling the deployment of Slapps and other forms of lawfare designed to stymie journalistic investigations," said Michelle Stanistreet, general secretary of the National Union of Journalists.
“Abuse of the law by the sly and mighty, who deeply resent the legitimate work of the media in calling them to account, is a scourge which must be eradicated."
Dawn Alford, executive director of the Society of Editors, said: “The introduction of a new mechanism to allow the courts to throw out meritless cases more quickly and a cap on costs are essential protections that should deter the wealthy from using the threat of expensive litigation to silence their critics, and should allow journalists and others the ability to fulfil their roles as the public’s watchdog without bullying or intimidation."
How Alia's experiment will help humans get to Mars
Alia’s winning experiment examined how genes might change under the stresses caused by being in space, such as cosmic radiation and microgravity.
Her samples were placed in a machine on board the International Space Station. called a miniPCR thermal cycler, which can copy DNA multiple times.
After the samples were examined on return to Earth, scientists were able to successfully detect changes caused by being in space in the way DNA transmits instructions through proteins and other molecules in living organisms.
Although Alia’s samples were taken from nematode worms, the results have much bigger long term applications, especially for human space flight and long term missions, such as to Mars.
It also means that the first DNA experiments using human genomes can now be carried out on the ISS.
FIXTURES (all times UAE)
Sunday
Brescia v Lazio (3.30pm)
SPAL v Verona (6pm)
Genoa v Sassuolo (9pm)
AS Roma v Torino (11.45pm)
Monday
Bologna v Fiorentina (3.30pm)
AC Milan v Sampdoria (6pm)
Juventus v Cagliari (6pm)
Atalanta v Parma (6pm)
Lecce v Udinese (9pm)
Napoli v Inter Milan (11.45pm)
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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.”
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