Goodbye London: De Beers Heads To Africa

De Beers says the move to Gaborone was partly motivated by wanting to keep alive the sights system, which still sells to buyers like jewellers Tiffany & Co and China’s Chow Tai Fook, and Indian family firms. “The Botswana government did not come to De Beers and say please transfer your business. The Botswana government said we would like you to sell the Botswana diamonds here,” said Varda Shine, who runs De Beers’ Global Sightholder Sales. “We believe our business model is quite strong and provides value for De Beers and its shareholders – so we came up with the idea of moving the whole business.” But some in the industry say it presents challenges that the model may not survive. De Beers already sells 10 percent of its production through auction as opposed to via sights, and according to the 2011 deal, the Botswana government will be able to sell a portion of local production through state-owned Okavango that will rise to 15 percent. De Beers says the auctions provide a guide price for sightholders, but others only see competition. “There is a direct challenge to the De Beers sightholders system taking place,” says diamond entrepreneur Martin Rapaport, whose own group operates rough and polished diamond tenders. There are also questions about the wisdom of separating De Beers’ management, which will remain headquartered in London, from its sales and the expertise that has underpinned the group. “The diamond end of the business is going to become divorced from the corporate end of the business, and the corporate end of the business has already been largely denuded of diamond expertise,” said Brian Menell, whose family sold a stake in the Venetia mine to De Beers a decade ago and now has mining interests across Africa as head of the private Kemet group. He also pointed out the move brings De Beers closer to just one of its producing nations, which could arguably skew its views. Botswana accounts for almost three-quarters of De Beers production, but it also has mines in Namibia, South Africa and Canada.

London Whale Lifts U.K. Regulator to Highest Fines in a Decade

View gallery British musicians Damon Albarn (L) and Paul Simonon (R) along with British actor Jude Law (2-R) take part in a protest against the detainment of Greenpeace activists by Russia outside the Russian embassy in central London on October 5, 2013. (AFP Photo/Carl Court) 19 hours ago London (AFP) – British actor Jude Law joined hundreds of people gathered in London Saturday as part of worldwide Greenpeace protests over Russia’s jailing of activists opposed to Arctic oil drilling. “Sherlock Holmes” star Law, joined by Damon Albarn, the frontman of British band Blur, and guitarist Paul Simonon of The Clash, voiced support for his friend Frank Hewetson, one of 30 Greenpeace activists threatened with up to 15 years in prison. British fashion designer Vivienne Westwood also turned out to join demonstrators who held up placards showing the faces and names of those detained. Police said about 800 people had gathered for the protest that lasted about two hours. Organisers put the number at 1,000. “Of course I am worried about Frank because I care about his family and I care about him but I know that he is incredibly durable,” Law told reporters as he took part in the demonstration held outside the Russian embassy. “I think that it is very interesting that the people over there (Greenpeace activists) probably knew there would be an arrest involved and the threat of a conviction is probably part and parcel of the act of drawing attention to the drilling in the Arctic which we all know is an international problem which needs confronting.” Law added: “What is ludicrous is that they have been charged with piracy which has a threat of 15 years in prison.” Greenpeace supporters held vigils across the world Saturday in support of the activists, whose imprisonment has sparked a new row between Moscow and the West. A 950-tonne icebreaker sailed by Greenpeace was impounded by Russian authorities last month after it approached the world’s first oil rig in the pristine Barents Sea — the focus of energy companies from around the world. A court in Russia’s northwestern region of Murmansk has since charged all crew members — who come from 18 different countries — with charges that carry jail terms of up to 15 years. Society & Culture

Jude Law joins Greenpeace protest in London

Or its reputation for rudeness. But the City of Light, one of the most visited cities in the world, has been knocked off its perch as best city in the world by London and Sydney in a new index released this week. According to the latest edition of the Anholt-GfK City Brands Index which measures a citys brand image, power and appeal, Londons stock has gone up in the world as it took the top spot in the biennial ranking. Possible reasons could include the fact that the city continues to bask in the afterglow of a successful Summer Olympic Games and has maintained a presence in the international spotlight with a string of historic milestones that include the Queens Coronation ceremony and the highly anticipated birth of a new royal with the arrival of Prince George. London also took the top spot as the city where individual cultures are appreciated and where foreigners can “easily fit in.” The Aussie capital of Sydney, meanwhile, enjoys a stellar reputation around the world for being the safest and friendliest city. The City Brands index measures the value of a citys international reputation across six dimensions: its international status and standing; esthetic; a category called pre-requisites such as affordable accommodations and the standard of public amenities; people; pulse (interesting things to do) and its economic and educational potential. More than 5,140 interviews were conducted in Australia, Brazil, China, France, Germany, India, Russia, South Korea, the US and the UK for the index. And while Paris was able to take the top spot in the category of Pulse, where the city failed to crack the top 10 ranking was in categories such as Friendly People and Safety. This summer, in a bid to shed their longstanding image of being rude and surly, the citys chamber of commerce published an etiquette manual for Parisian restaurateurs, taxi drivers and sales staff on how to welcome international tourists. …despite its indisputable charm, the capital has work to do when it comes to welcoming visitors, the chamber admits. And earlier this year, high-profile muggings of Chinese tourists robbed of their passports, plane tickets and cash shortly after landing in Paris tarnished the citys image, as did footage broadcast worldwide of soccer-related riots which broke out not far from the Eiffel Tower. Meanwhile, other notable movements on the index include Tokyo, which suffered a 7-spot drop from tenth place in 2011 to 17th place in 2013. Amsterdam, meanwhile, shot up the ranks from 17th spot to 11th position this year. And while Rio de Janeiro was ranked the third friendliest city on the list, the city fell to the bottom of the heap when it comes to safety (47 out of 50) — a particular concern given it’s set to host the World Cup and the Summer Olympics, the report points out.

London steals title of best city in the world from Paris

Regulator to Highest Fines in a Decade By Suzi Ring – 2013-10-04T15:11:31Z The U.K. finance regulator recorded its largest month of fines in more than a decade in September, buoyed by a 137.6 million-pound ($221.2 million) penalty against JPMorgan Chase & Co. (JPM) over the London Whale debacle. Industry fines totaled 169.5 million pounds last month and brought total penalties from the Financial Conduct Authority in 2013 to 339.5 million pounds, according to statistics published today by Wolters Kluwer NV (WKL) , Europe s largest tax and legal publisher. The year-to-date total is larger than any other full year since 2002. The regulator fined JPMorgan as part of a probe into losses exceeding $6.2 billion on a derivatives position built by a trader who came to be known as the London Whale because his bets were so large. The past year has also seen the regulator punish banks embroiled in the scandal over rigging of the London Interbank Offered Rate, or Libor. The FCA is endeavoring to keep up with the international trend towards greater levels of fining and is continuing the trajectory started in the U.K. by the Financial Services Authority in its latter years, said Barnabas Reynolds, a London lawyer at U.S. law firm Shearman & Sterling LLP. The FSA became the FCA in April this year. FCA fines increased considerably last year hitting 313.4 million pounds at the end of 2012 compared with 66.1 million pounds in 2011. The FCA is clear that where there is poor behavior we will act quickly with punishments we believe reflect the seriousness of what has taken place, the FCA said in an emailed statement. To contact the reporter on this story: Suzi Ring in London at sring5@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Anthony Aarons at aaarons@bloomberg.net More News: