Word: investcorp
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...Saudi European suit, according to Investcorp general counsel Lawrence Kessler, is "completely without merit, and we expect to see it dismissed." (Other defendants deny all charges). When TIME asked Kirdar to comment on the litigation, he not only rejected the charges but also said he barely knew Radwan and doubted he had ever spoken more than "15 words" to him. Both men, however, worked for Chase Manhattan in the Middle East in the '70s and, says Radwan, both attended management meetings. Radwan supplied Time with a photograph of himself with Kirdar taken in Switzerland...
Whatever the merits of the complaint, it highlights the intriguing background of a key Investcorp insider: Abdullah Taha Bakhsh, a Saudi tycoon who has served on Investcorp's board since the bank was founded and who helped persuade other rich Saudis to invest. (Like Investcorp, Bakhsh filed a motion to dismiss the Saudi European action, and his lawyer expects it to be granted.) The complaint points out that Bakhsh was a major shareholder of Paris-based Al Saudi Banque, which collapsed in 1988, and accuses him of looting that institution. One of Bakhsh's other holdings is the First Commercial...
...collapse of the Bank of Credit and Commerce International, which cost depositors billions of dollars. Much of the blame was placed on regulators who seemed oblivious to B.C.C.I.'s frauds. No one is suggesting that this is another B.C.C.I. case in the making. When questioned about Investcorp's practices, its officials noted that the bank is licensed in Bahrain and is well supervised. "It's a very strong regulatory agency," says Kessler...
...questions remain. Investcorp has thrived in the Bahraini environment, perhaps because some of the most powerful businessmen in the tiny island state are directors and major shareholders. When the bank was founded, it was granted an extraordinary privilege by the Bahrain government. At the time, foreigners were barred from buying stock in publicly traded companies unless they were citizens of Bahrain or of one of five neighboring countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council. The Bahrain authorities allowed Investcorp to sell 25.8% of its stock to a company owned entirely by citizens of Iraq (a non-gcc country), including Kirdar. Another...
...gives you the chance to explain a part of the world to people--in my case, what makes financial institutions tick," says Gurwin, a new member of TIME's investigative unit. That dedication is amply displayed in this week's report by Gurwin and Washington correspondent Adam Zagorin on Investcorp, the high-flying and secretive Arab investment boutique that bought Tiffany and Saks Fifth Avenue and engineered the stunning turnaround of Gucci. "Although Gucci is a triumph, many deals have been duds--something few people realize," says Gurwin, who is based in Brussels. "We wanted to take a close look...