The Ugly History of the Beautiful Game

Football hooliganism, aka ‘the English Disease’, is endemic around the world. So, is a single country to blame? Tony Lennox grabs a pie in the stands…

The small Warwickshire town of Atherstone, which sits on Watling Street, the old Roman road marking the division of Anglo-Saxon England and the Danelaw, is the scene of an annual ritual which dates back more than 800 years.

The Atherstone Ball Game resembles the original mediaeval event: it involves a large and unspecified number of young men pursuing a ball up and down the main street in a frantic melee that lasts for an indefinite period every Shrove Tuesday. The only official rule is that “no-one is allowed kill anyone”.

Almost every town and village in England had a similar tradition until the 1830s when Parliament, alarmed by annual mayhem — the official rule was frequently broken, back in the day — introduced laws to restrict such events. In Atherstone, and one or two other locations, these laws have been ignored.

The link between football and violence is long-established in the British Isles — one of the reasons why many Europeans blame the UK for “exporting” hooliganism.

The first incident of football-related thuggery came in 1885, when two founder-member teams of the Football League, Preston North End and Birmingham-based Aston Villa, met for a friendly game. Preston beat Villa 5-0; Villa’s supporters attacked their rival fans — and both sets of players and officials.

This was, after all, the period of the real Peaky Blinders, one of a number of notorious street gangs from Birmingham. Victorian Britain’s industrial cities all spawned similar mobs.

Aston Villa were again in the spotlight when they competed in, and won, the European Cup in 1982. In the semi-final against Dutch champions Anderlecht, an English fan ran on to the pitch. Anderlecht officials demanded Villa’s disqualification, claiming the pitch incursion affected the outcome of the game, but the English club escaped with a fine.

By the early 1980s, Europeans were becoming exasperated by the behaviour of English fans, who regularly rampaged through the continent’s cities. English clubs were dominant in European competition, winning six consecutive finals from 1977 to 1982, but violent behaviour — allegedly unknown in the European game — caused shock, fear and outrage.

By 1985, England’s pariah status was cemented by tragic scenes at a game in Brussels at the Heysel Stadium between Italian champions Juventus and Liverpool. Inside the stadium, and before the kick-off, English fans charged their rivals, provoking a stampede — and 39 mainly Italian fans were crushed to death when a wall collapsed. A further 600 were injured. UEFA, football’s governing body in Europe, described it as “the darkest day in the history of European football”.

The disaster prompted UEFA to act — by banning all English clubs from European competition until 1990. But the actions of UEFA missed the mark; by the time English football authorities were finally shamed into taking action, hooliganism had taken root across Europe.

During its European exile, the process of “gentrifying” the English game began. Stadium facilities were modified, seating replaced terracing, and tougher action was taken to root out racism and deter the hooligan element. But meanwhile, European clubs were witnessing an explosion of antisocial behaviour.

Despite extensive research, social scientists across the continent have failed to agree on a cause or explanation for the ugly phenomenon. European researchers have suggested a link between football hooliganism and a general rise in juvenile crime and delinquency in many countries, plus the emergence of deviant subcultures.

And while some continue to point the finger of blame at the English, studies have shown that football violence has many different causes. While hooliganism in England has been largely connected to tribal club loyalties, in Europe, racial and ethnic tensions are often at the heart of such hostilities.

Politics also plays a part, with far-right extremists, especially in former Soviet bloc countries, using matches as recruiting events. Much of the trouble in and around Spain’s football grounds is said to have its roots in the Civil War, or separatist tensions in Catalonia.
More organised violence, on a different scale to the English football gangs, is now evident in the European game. Italian clubs have their “ultras” — well-organised, and in some cases, almost paramilitary groups of fans, some of whom have used firearms in pre-arranged clashes with rivals.

In France, regular hostilities between supporters of Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) and Olympique de Marseille encapsulate the divisions between the north and south of the country. In Russia, some club gangs organise squad “training weekends” involving improved fitness… and battle strategies.

The notion that all Europe’s football woes directly stem from the English “bovver boys” in the 1970s and ‘80s is disputed by many experts. The Social Issues Research Centre (SIRC), an independent, Oxford-based non-profit which researches socio-cultural trends is one organisation that believes it to be a myth.

In an SIRC academic study, Steve Frosdick and Peter Marsh suggest there are three general fallacies related to football hooliganism: that the problem is new, that it is a uniquely related to football, and that it’s a purely English phenomenon.

When crowd trouble began to emerge as a serious challenge on the European mainland in the 1970s, it was suggested that fans were simply imitating their British counterparts. Claims by some sociologists that hooliganism was unknown on the continent until that point are, however, contradicted by the evidence.

Throughout the first half of the 20th Century there are numerous reports of sport-based street fighting in continental towns and cities. In 1920, furious fans at a game in Villaggio, Italy, killed the referee. There are other documented incidents — in almost every country where football is played.

Yugoslavia was a hotbed of fan violence. In the mid-1950s a wave of football brawls, known as zusism, broke out around the country across ethic and religious lines. Fans armed themselves with hammers, mallets, iron bars and knives. In Turkey, rival spectators confronted one another with knives and pistols; in one incident, 42 spectators died, mostly from stab wounds. The army had to be called in.

Even during the inter-war years, crowd disorder and street fighting were recorded in Hungary, France, Germany and Sweden. Indeed, some British football clubs, fearful of the potential for violence, refused to play friendly matches on the continent.

Psychologist Peter Marsh, the author of Rules of Disorder, a study of gang violence, believes much of the aggressive behaviour witnessed among English football supporters is ritualistic in nature — and largely symbolic. It is true to say that serious injury, even during the height of hooliganism in the 1960s, ‘70s and ‘80s, has been comparatively rare. Fans of rival teams chant, posture, and pose… but seldom cause serious injury.

How did the modern game become so intrinsically linked with violence? When football was first established in England, those behind its development made strenuous efforts to distance the game from the age-old tradition of communal violence.

Association Football was designed with clear rules, and imbued with Victorian values of fair play and gentlemanly conduct. It was essentially the pastime of the aristocracy, who formed quaintly-named clubs like the Old Etonians and Corinthians. The first recorded football club in France was founded in Paris in the 1860s — by “English gentlemen”. Their robust style of play was said to have amazed French onlookers.

Historians believe a major turning-point came when English football turned professional, mainly in the North and the Midlands. It developed into a working-class sport, in terms of its participants and its followers.

Crowd trouble in the modern game subsequently became a relatively common phenomena in Britain’s towns and cities, but it was in the mid-1960s — paradoxically, at the moment of English football’s greatest triumph, the home-turf World Cup victory in 1966 — that a new breed of hooligan emerged. Sociologists have failed to agree on a single cause, but most point to changing social attitudes and the emergence of new subcultures among the young.

The Teddy Boys of the 1950s led to the rise of Mods and Rockers in the 1960s, eventually producing the skinheads and bovver boys of the 1970s: gangs which were almost exclusively linked to football clubs.

Despite constant study, there is a general lack of consensus or reliable data on football-related violence, making a general assessment almost impossible. Universal explanations can’t accommodate all the cross-cultural variations. Some commentators have likened the sometimes-venomous disputes between teams of sociological experts to hooliganism itself.

There are areas of agreement, however. The role of the media, especially the tabloids, is frequently identified as an aggravating factor. Sensationalism has been blamed for stoking tensions between rival fans ahead of a game.

And it isn’t confined to club matches. Sections of the British media have been criticised for likening almost every international match with Germany to the resumption of World War II hostilities.

Nor is violence restricted to football. The first recorded incidence of sport-related fighting involved chariot races in ancient Rome. There have been incidents of crowd trouble at baseball, basketball, ice hockey and American football matches, as well as at rugby league and union games in England and France.

The US has a history of spectator violence. At the Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City in 2002, police fired teargas to disperse fans after the finals of the bobsleigh competition. Minor sports are not exempt, either. Serbian fans clashed with Croatian rivals after a water polo European Final in Belgrade in 2003. There have even been incidents, worldwide, at cricket matches.

While violent incidents still occur from time to time in the English game, there is no comparison to either the dark days of the 1980s. Facilities for English fans are now among the best in the world. Effective campaigns have all but eliminated racist and homophobic behaviour in English grounds, something which cannot be said for some European countries, notably those in parts of eastern Europe.

Nothing illustrated the changing status of the English football hooligan more than events at the Euro 2016 tournament, held in France. Well-organised Russian thugs routed their slightly pudgy, lager-swilling English counterparts in running battles on the streets. England’s hooligans were no longer at the “top” of the league.

There have been other positive developments. Some argue that the hooligans themselves are changing. There was a time when negative media coverage was seen as a badge of honour; this appears to be fading. The Scottish “Tartan Army” and the Danish “Roligans” distance themselves from the old hooligan ethic, presenting a very different style of engagement — boisterous, frequently alcohol-fuelled, but non-violent, generally amiable, and respectful of host countries.

There is little doubt, however, that despite all the efforts to control violence, there is, and probably always will be, an appetite for fighting among some young men. And football, with its tribal passions, continues to provide a focus.

Elizabethan pamphleteer Philip Stubbs understood this, and he could have been watching the Atherstone Ball Game when he described football as “a bloody and murdering practice”. And in 1829, an unnamed French observer of a rough village game wrote: “If this is what the English call football, what do they call fighting?”


Bayo Olugbemi: A Prodigy of Great Repute, Creating a Lasting Legacy

[caption id="attachment_23187" align="alignright" width="300"] CEO & MD: Bayo Williams Olugbemi[/caption]

That Nigeria is blessed with immense wealth is never in doubt: men and women of remarkable business integrity and brilliance, of outstanding grit, dedication, enviable character, values and principles.

These, believes First Registrars CEO and MD Bayo Williams Olugbemi, are symbols of a great country. Among this army of prodigies is a financial industry captain of sterling qualities: Dr Bayo Williams Olugbemi, Managing Director and CEO of First Registrars and Investor Services Limited.

A career banker, a doyen of the investment management world and a capital market guru of unparalleled repute, Olugbemi is the immediate past-president of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (CIBN), where he took the institute on the path of great achievements during his impactful two-year tenure. In the annals and chronicles of the banking and capital market industry with regard to innovative business and financial masterplans and development strategies, Bayo Williams Olugbemi is a force to be reckoned with.

Armed with professional and business certifications as well as academic recognitions, Olugbemi grew in the lowest ebbs of societal “have-nots” in remote Olugbemi Village in Oluyole LGA of Ibadan, Oyo State of Nigeria, to become a world class banker, capital market registrar, stockbroker and financial market consultant who is globally recognised.

With 40 years of banking experience with reputable organisations, the CEO is an acknowledged expert in all aspects of Investment Banking and Capital Market industry operations. To many, Bayo Olugbemi is the godfather of the Nigerian Share Registration Industry, one who has mentored many heads of teams of other registrars. In academia, Olugbemi has fearlessly advanced through the ranks.

His quest for knowledge is insatiable. Another colourful feather was added to his cap with the conferment of an Honorary Doctorate Degree (Honoris Causa) in Entrepreneurship by the Joseph Ayo Babalola University (JABU) in 2021. This was followed in quick succession in 2022 by 2 other Honorary Doctorate Degrees – Doctor in Business Administration (D.BA) by Ladoke Akintola University of Technology (LAUTECH) Ogbomosho, Oyo State and Doctor of Science (D.Sc) by Adeleke University Ede, Osun State, Nigeria. In pursuit of learning more, in line with his life goals and aspirations, Olugbemi has enrolled for an academic PhD programme in advanced studies in Entrepreneurship Management at the Joseph Ayo Babalola University, Ikeji-Arakeji, Osun State of Nigeria.

He holds a BSc in Accounting from the University of Lagos and a Master’s degree in Corporate Governance and Ethics (MSc) from Leeds Beckett University (formerly Leeds Metropolitan University), UK. He also holds a Master’s in Business administration (MBA) with specialisation in International Business Management from the Lagos State University, Ojo.

Bayo Williams Olugbemi is an alumnus of many prestigious Nigerian and international institutions such as the Harvard Business School (AMP 179), Wharton Business School, US, Stanford Business School, US, Institute of Management Development, Switzerland, INSEAD, Singapore and France, Euro Money Capital Market Training, UK, and the Lagos Business School (CEP 11) — among others.

A fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Dr Olugbemi is also a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (FCTI), the Institute of Capital Market Registrars, the National Institute of Marketing of Nigeria, Institute of Directors (Nigeria), Certified Pension Institute of Nigeria, Nigerian Institute of Training & Development (NITAD) and Association of Enterprise Risk Management Professionals (AERMP). He is also an Associate Member of The Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers, Institute of Company Secretaries & Administrators of Nigeria (ICSAN), Nigeria Institute of Management (Chartered), Association of National Accountants of Nigerian (ANAN), and Global Association of Risk Professionals (GARP).

Olugbemi has authored three books, as well as many unpublished but recognised works. His presidential valedictory lecture paper, delivered at the baton-exchange ceremony of the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, was titled Entrepreneurship Innovation and Disruption in the Nigerian Banking Industry; What Next?

In the paper, Dr Olugbemi highlighted the roles of entrepreneurship, innovations, and disruption as critical and essential elements for efficiency in the banking sector.

His achievements at the Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria crowns the list of achievements. Upon his assumption, he outlined a five strategic agenda code named A-TEAM which encapsulates his management and leadership style as a world-class manager of teams.

Bayo Williams Olugbemi is a dedicated family man, happily married with five children. To his clan of relatives, and his corporate, spiritual and community children, he is a father, mentor and provider.


First Registrars & Investor Services Limited: Thriving in a Challenging World

Business, around the world, is no longer “as usual”. With some of the recent challenges, it has become a question of survival of the fittest.

Rules of the game are changing, too, and terms of engagement are increasingly dynamic. Government bodies are becoming more receptive to change — as private organisations redefine their business models to catch up with new business trends.

Some may simply respond and adapt; more dynamic organisations will drive these changes to bring about transformation. First Registrars and investor Services Ltd has chosen the latter path.

Beyond Covid-19 are economic and political developments that have impacted trades, policies and workplace operation.

Since the divestment of First Bank of Nigeria from the company, First Registrars has continued to evolve in Nigeria’s capital market. Once a unit within the First Bank Group, it started up as a major cost centre. Eventually it became a foremost subsidiary of the bank under its pioneering managing director and CEO, Dr Bayo Olugbemi, FCIB.

Olugbemi turned around the bank’s fortunes and a cost centre was transformed into a key income generating entity through value creation to its clientele.

First Registrars and Investor Services offers a range of services in share and bondholders’ data management, and investor-related services such as proxy solicitation, probate management, and company secretariat services. The company is registered as a capital market operator (CMO) with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

First Registrars is committed to the safekeeping of investors’ records. As at the year 2021, it had close to 2 million shareholder/bondholder records that cut across various industries, and 75 equity and bond accounts.

Innovative Solutions

First Registrars has remained at the forefront of registrar innovation, and introduced a range of value-adding digital capabilities. Shareholders and client companies can access and manage their share accounts and register of members 24/7 with the First Registrars Online Access.

The company was a pioneering member of the Electronic Dividend Mandate Management System (EDMMS) for the direct crediting of payments into shareholders/bond-holders bank accounts. It supports financial inclusion through its introduction of the FirstDividend Plus Prepaid Card for unbanked shareholders — the first and only dividend prepaid card within the registrars industry in Nigeria. It has helped to reduce the volume of unclaimed dividends.

"First Registrars and Investor Services offers a range of services in share and bondholders’ data management, and investor-related services such as proxy solicitation, probate management, and company secretariat services."

First Registrars promotes active shareholder participation at AGMs with the e-voting initiative, electronic voting devices far more accurate than the traditional show of raised hands. The voting system was recently upgraded to include a USSD voting option (*5075#) via mobile that allows those shareholders not physically present to participate. It also keeps investors informed of transactions on their share accounts with its introduction of real-time SMS alerts and other solutions.

Diversification Drive

In recent years, First Registrars has diversified. It created a strategic business unit with a co-operative administration and management solution. It has distinct features to take co-operative societies to the next digital level. Branded as CLE, it is designed to ease the accounting, administration, and management.

With CLE, members can apply for loans and monitor savings; it renders paperwork almost obsolete. Co-op administrators can approve or decline loans on-the-go. It has MarketHub functionalities that bring the marketplace to the cooperatives. They can buy discounted goods and services from reliable sources on MarketHub. Other diversification areas include the introduction of company secretariat services, probate administration services, and proxy solicitation services.

Stakeholder Values

First Registrars understands the diverse needs of stakeholders, from the customers to the clients, suppliers to vendors — and most importantly its “internal customers”: staff and management. Their interests are served to ensure a happy community. The company anticipates their needs and provides solutions tailored to meet, and exceed, them.

Increasing value for investors and stakeholders is an iron rule for First Registrars. It collaborates with key stakeholders in the capital market to redefine on-boarding processes for investors and increase participation to develop bespoke solutions.

Corporate Social Responsibility

First Registrars’ social responsibility philosophy has been leveraged to ensure its impact is felt — and positively — within and beyond its immediate operating space. It runs impactful programmes and initiatives, and has maintained a well-defined CSR strategy that has a measurable impact on the lives of many people. The company supports programmes across the country that improve child healthcare, education, the arts, sports, community development, and environmental sustainability.

“We have over the years maintained our support and partnership with the Youth Rescue and Care Initiative (YORCI), an NGO, to reduce poverty levels and promote responsible behaviour amongst young people,” says CEO and MD Bayo Williams Olugbemi, “by helping them discover, nurture, and ignite their individual potential through exercises, life/leadership skills training, academic endeavours, and mentoring programmes.”

Results are measured with the help of tailored goal-setting worksheets, presentations, and video clips that expose youths to the benefits of planning and make performance-based evaluations which help prepare them for the future and to be self-reliant.

The Future

Abraham Lincoln once said: “The best way to predict the future is to create it.” This is a major driver of the firm’s passion, the things it believes in, the values it is committed to. First Registrars is creating its own future by redefining the share registration business in Nigeria.

It has created an entirely new internal structure in preparation for the future it envisages for the business. “This structure positions us to face and thrive,” says Olugbemi. “Not just amidst the current challenges that we face — it also prepares us for the challenges that may come up in the future. The internal restructuring brings with it an investment in our people, who will eventually drive our business forward.

“The people are the executors of the long-term strategic plan. We attract and retain the best talents in the industry while on-boarding when necessary.”

First Registrars has continued its investments in technological infrastructure. One of the key lessons from the pandemic has been a recognition of the power of technology in a digital world. The pandemic provided a learning curve for the company, which is able to identify what works, what does not, and to gather insight as to what will work in the future. The major takeaway is that First Registrars is creating a shift in its business model in the midst of current realities.

The long-term focus is to work collaboratively with other stakeholders in the industry to create an ecosystem that will make transactions in the capital market seamless for all participants, from the process of on-boarding through the entire lifecycle to the exit of participants. “This we cannot do alone,” says the CEO, “but by collaborative efforts.”

This consistent approach ensures that the First Registrars brand remains strong and recognisable. Its identity is that of a “go-to” place for all equity holders looking for a premier service experience.

“We believe that what is ahead of us as an organisation is far greater and better than what is gone. We are building a brand that will be able to stand the test of time, the First Registrars Brand.”


Born for Business, Ready for Any Challenge: Dan Gilbert’s Life has Taken Many Turns

Family’s philanthropy and drive unhindered by health and legal challenges

American businessman Dan Gilbert has always had a vision to improve whatever he touches — and the courage to challenge the status quo.

Pioneer of tech-powered mortgage

[caption id="attachment_23206" align="alignleft" width="400"] Dan Gilbert[/caption]

Gilbert comes from a proud line of Jewish businessmen. His dad had a bar in Detroit and his grandfather a car wash. “I used to love going down to their businesses and just watching all the action. I got hooked,” he said. “For me it was just the energy and the environment. Even a car wash has good energy if you just lay back and look at everything going on.”

While in college he earned a real estate agent’s licence, and while in law school he worked part-time at his parents’ Century 21 Real Estate agency. By the age of 23, Gilbert was “hustling mortgages as a broker out of my car, running from bank to bank, begging them to approve the loans”.

In 1985, he launched a brick-and-mortar mortgage company with Ron Berman, Lindsay Gross, and his younger brother Gary Gilbert. Rocket Mortgage caught several lucky breaks in its early days. In 1996, a mail-in mortgage application was introduced; it closed loans worth $35m over the next two months.

At the time, most mortgage applications required numerous in-person visits, so this was revolutionary. Gilbert recognised the power of technology to simplify the mortgage process. Rocket Mortgage, then called Quicken Loans, launched an early-adopter internet strategy in the late 1990s. It became one of the country’s first online direct mortgage lenders. It’s now the largest provider of FHA mortgages in the US — a distinction it has held since 2014.

Rocket has grown into a $27bn holding company that includes Rocket Mortgage, title company Amrock, home-search platform Rocket Homes, personal loans provider Rocket Loans, and call centre Rock Connections.

Today, the company is grappling with big tech changes — AI, data analytics and blockchain — and gearing up for more tech disruptions. Amid stiffer competition with the rise of start-ups like Better.com, Blend and Divvy Homes, Rocket has expanded to other markets, including auto loans, solar panels and personal finance. It just acquired Truebill, a personal financial management app.

Mortgages remain at the core of the business, which is dominant in the space. It closed $320bn in mortgage volume in 2020 and has processed more than $1tn in mortgages since it launched in 1985. It has 26,000 employees.

Dan Gilbert believes that business sustainability is rooted in better customer experiences. “We’re in the get-rich-slow business.”

Sports franchises

Gilbert became majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball team in March 2005. He undertook a complete overhaul of the front office, coaching staff, player personnel and game presentation. Two years later, he bought the dormant Utah Grizzlies American hockey league franchise, moved it to Cleveland, and renamed it the Cleveland Monsters. He also purchased, relocated and rebranded an NBA G-League team now known as the Cleveland Charge.

Consistent wins from Gilbert’s sports teams — particularly the Cavaliers, where LeBron James was a star player — convinced fans that Cleveland’s 52-year “sports curse” had ended. But Gilbert clashed with James when he decided to leave the Cavaliers to join the Miami Heat as a free agent in 2010. James announced his decision in a TV special called The Decision. Gilbert responded with The Letter, criticising Cleveland’s homegrown hero for abandoning fans and turning his announcement into a “narcissistic, self-promotional build-up”.

The NBA Commissioner fined Gilbert $100,000 for his remarks. Four years later, when James opted out of his contract with Miami, the two met privately and acknowledged that mistakes had been made on both sides. James returned to Cleveland in free agency — and led the team to its first championship victory — but the wound never fully healed. In 2017 interviews, James said he felt the letter had racial overtones and was disrespectful. In 2018, he left the Cavaliers to sign with the Lakers.

Dan Gilbert in the Billionaire’s Club

Dan Gilbert enjoyed a brief spell as the world’s 10th-richest person in March 2021. Rocket companies’ shares rose 71 percent in March, following a GameStop-like squeeze of the firm’s heavily-shorted stock. Gilbert’s net worth jumped almost $33bn — but the very next day his fortune plunged by $25.4bn. Despite the sharp decline, the stock ended up 30 percent higher than the previous week — and Gilbert was almost $10bn richer.

Under Gilbert’s watch, Quicken Loans/Rocket Mortgage became a 16-time winner of JD Power’s Highest Customer Satisfaction Award (10 in the primary mortgage origination category, six for mortgage servicing). The company also ranked in Fortune’s 100 Best Companies to Work For from 2005 through 2017. In 2016, the Cleveland Cavaliers won the NBA championship and the best team award from ESPY, while the Cleveland Monsters claimed the Calder Cup.

Gilbert ranks number 63 on Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, with a net worth of $20.8bn as of August 2022. He owns 100 buildings in downtown Detroit.

Money for medical research, urban rejuvenation and community support

In September 2012, the Detroit native and his wife, Jennifer, joined The Giving Pledge, committing to giving half their wealth to philanthropic causes during their time on Earth. They sold a chunk of their Rocket Companies stock in April 2021 to support Detroit’s neighbourhoods. The transaction involved 20.2 million shares of Rocket Companies’ class A common stock. Following the sale, the Gilberts still had a 93 percent interest in Rocket Companies.

The Rocket Community Fund (RCF) was established in April 2021, amid a carefully orchestrated media rollout that involved exclusives to The New York Times and CBS programme This Morning. The initiative will distribute funds over a 10-year period.

The first $15m instalment went to cover low-income residents’ delinquent property taxes. Bloomberg reports on a nationwide property tax debt scheme allowing municipal authorities to collect hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue beyond actual tax debts. In Wayne County, Michigan, where Detroit is located, more than 100,000 homes have been auctioned-off over the past decade. Since 2005, county officials have used the debts to back roughly $3.5bn in bond sales — securities that pay high yields to investors and are funded by penalties, fines, and foreclosure sales.

Flawed tax assessments have systematically inflated tax bills for the lowest-priced homes. Some municipalities’ efforts to securitise or sell the debts have led to a broad, upward transfer of wealth rooted in unfair tax systems.

Gilbert wants to pay the property tax debts, allowing the municipalities to focus on other responsibilities. “Removing this tax burden will build a stronger foundation for Detroit families to thrive,” he said, adding: “Everyone deserves to achieve the American dream of home-ownership, which includes the ability to sustainably and permanently enjoy the home you make for yourself, your family, and your loved ones.”

By the end of 2021, only $40m of the promised $500m had been allocated. The $15m Detroit Tax Relief Fund has helped about 2,500 homeowners, with another 4,000 cases in progress and an on-going information campaign to encourage others to apply. The other $25m includes funding to revive Detroit’s dormant historically Black college or university (HBCU), the Pensole Lewis College of Business and Design, as well as a programme called Neighbour to Neighbour, in which people go door-to-door throughout the city assessing what unaffordable home repairs residents need.

This April, the RCF committed another $10m to help Detroit contractors grow their businesses. “Development continues to exponentially increase across our city, which will catalyse economic impact, and it is critical that Detroit-based contractors are well positioned to be a part of that growth,” says Laura Grannemann, vice-president of the RCF, which is investing the first $1m into programme administration and operations. “Detroit-based contractors have historically been overlooked, but the Motor City Contractor Fund will increase access to financing for local contractors, empowering them to grow their business and create more jobs for Detroiters.”

Jennifer Gilbert runs the family foundation. When the Gilberts’ eldest son, Nick, was diagnosed with neurofibromatosis, his parents launched a non-profit that has since raised around $40m for research into the rare genetic disorder.

Criticism of Dan Gilbert

The family has come under fire, with some saying that it has donated just a fraction of the enormous wealth acquired through tax breaks and the city’s willingness to virtually give-away real estate to Gilbert for redevelopment. The billionaire entrepreneur has redeveloped so much of Motor City real estate that downtown Detroit is known as “Gilbertville”.

The Detroit City Council approved a $60m tax abatement for Gilbert’s Hudson’s site project in July. The tax abatement plan passed 5-4 after three postponements. It will provide Bedrock — Gilbert’s real estate arm — with the 10-year tax break that the company says is necessary to finish the skyscraper.

Dan Gilbert described the Hudson’s site construction as “our most exciting project on the board right now”. It will be the tallest building in Detroit, around 70 storeys high.

The Gilberts, unlike many megadonors, are not plastering their names on anything, other than their foundation. “None of what we do is for accolades and ego,” Jennifer said. “Ultimately, if putting our name on something exponentially grows the impact, we will consider doing it. But if it’s for the sake of having our name up somewhere, we’re not interested in that. That’s not our goal.”

However, when the Gilberts sold company shares to fund their philanthropic mission, they did so just months before publicly disclosing that the company’s gain-on-sale margin declined. Rocket stock dropped when the news broke, prompting investors to file lawsuits against Gilbert for insider trading. The first, filed by a Detroit pension fund and a family trust, was dropped. The second was filed this February.

Rocket and its management face a securities class action in Michigan that accuses them of concealing rising competition and other factors that caused the key financial metric to contract.

Health scare and delegating responsibilities

Dan Gilbert made an appearance at Forbes’ Under-30 Summit in October 2021, where he opened up about the stroke he suffered in 2019. “It was a big shot out of nowhere,” he said. “They usually are that way.”

The Rocket Companies chairman uses a wheelchair and a service dog to help navigate this new phase of his life. He spends three or four hours a day working with physical therapists. In his first interview since the stroke, Gilbert told Crain’s Detroit Business: “When you have a stroke, here’s the problem: Everything is hard. Everything. Like you wake up, getting out of bed is hard, going to the bathroom is hard, and sitting down and eating at a table is hard. You name it. You don’t get a break. You’re like trapped in your own body.”

Gilbert couldn’t be prouder of Jennifer, who he says has come into her own in the wake of his illness. “I couldn’t ask for a better sounding-board, partner, and confidante. She’s especially done a remarkable job in the last couple years with the businesses and Gilbert Family Foundation — I’m going to have to take notes from her.”

Jennifer was a stay-at-home mum for 15 years — a role she chose and loved — before getting more deeply involved with the family business and philanthropy. She started by contributing towards the design of the buildings, and now runs two design studios.

Dan Gilbert’s son, Grant, insists that he’s not preparing to take over his father’s responsibilities. But he is becoming “the face” of the Gilbert family, particularly on the sports side. Early this year, he told Sports Business Journal: “In terms of staying engaged and helping impact and being involved (with the Cleveland Cavaliers), that’s something I want to do for the rest of my life.”


Aviv Wolff: Moo-ve Over, Bessie, There’s a New Dairy on the Scene…

[caption id="attachment_23224" align="alignright" width="300"] Remilk CEO and co-founder: Aviv Wolff[/caption]

Israeli food-tech start-up Remilk is challenging a global industry valued at around $900bn.

According to Remilk’s founder and CEO, Aviv Wolff, the dairy industry has seen little innovation over the past 10,000 years. Half of all habitable land is used for agricultural production, and over three quarters of that is used for raising and feeding livestock. “It’s known to be highly inefficient in terms of greenhouse gas emissions and resource usage,” he observes.

Wolff and his Remilk co-founder and CTO, biochemist Ori Cohavi, believe they have cracked the code for a new generation of dairy. Remilk has developed a microbe-based production method that’s outperforming traditional practices — and using a fraction of the land and water.

“We’re making dairy products that are identical to cow-milk products, with the same taste, texture, stretchiness, meltiness, with no cholesterol and no lactose,” Wolff told The Times of Israel. “We’ve basically ported the whole mechanism of producing milk into a single-cell microbe. We don’t need the ‘rest of the cow’ — and we surely don’t need to spend resources in the process of creating a 900-kilogram animal.”

Wolff differentiates Remilk from the host of plant-based milk alternatives encroaching on the traditional market — which he says are “nearly 97 percent water”.

“The world needs sustainable foods for so many reasons, but if we want people to eat sustainable food, it needs to taste damn good — and that’s what we’re doing at Remilk.”

The Remilk team isolated the gene responsible for the production of milk protein in cows and inserted it into the yeast used by brewers and bakers. “The gene acts like a manual, instructing the yeast how to produce our protein in a highly efficient way.

“We then place the yeast in fermenters where it multiplies rapidly and produces real milk proteins, identical to those that cows produce, which are the key building blocks of the traditional dairy we know and love.”

Fermentation produces protein powder that can be mixed with water, oil and sugar to create a range of products. Unlike plant-based alternatives, Remilk is “chemically identical” to bovine dairy products. It has the same functional properties and can be used for cooking. Double-blind tastings have shown Remilk to be indistinguishable from old-fashioned dairy.

Remilk is headquartered in Tel Aviv, where glass-walled labs and corporate offices underscore the company’s commitment to transparency. The start-up won’t share its secret formula, but likens the process to a high-precision and tech-enhanced form of cheesemaking.

The company has production facilities in Europe and the US — and brand partnerships in the pipeline. Expansion is in full swing, fuelled by a $120m Series-B funding in January. The round was led by Hanaco, a venture capitalist fund manager based in New York and Tel Aviv. It was the single largest investment in a cow-free dairy company to date, and the value of the start-up has since surged.

“This funding propels us on our journey to transform the dairy category into one that delivers delicious, nutritious products without harm to people, planet or animals.”

Remilk, founded in 2019, will break ground on a manufacturing plant in Denmark before the end of the year. It will be the largest facility of its kind, roughly the size of nine football pitches and with an annual production capacity equal to 50,000 cows. The site will enable Remilk to scale commercialisation, bringing animal-free dairy to the masses without price-gouging.

“We want to be more affordable, because essentially what we’re trying to do is to eliminate the economic incentive from using cows in our food system,” Wolff says. “Ending animals’ historic role as providers of food for humankind is one of the most powerful measures we can take to reduce our impact on our planet.”


We Do Love to be Beside the Seaside, and Fashion is So Much Better For That

As well as health benefits — although not in the way the Victorians prescribed — Britain’s coast has provided sartorial and design inspiration through the ages.

[caption id="attachment_23278" align="aligncenter" width="900"] UK: Durdle Door at the beach on the Jurassic Coast of Dorset[/caption]

As an island nation, Britain has channelled the coastal couture vibe via brands such as Fat Face, Seasalt, Celtic & Co, Finisterre and White Stuff — which pay more than a passing nod to the coastline.

It hasn’t always been that way.

Feared, revered, plundered for its booty, Britain’s appreciation for its beaches as places of leisure came only in the wake of the industrial revolution. Before that, there was no concept of going to the beach.

Doctors increasingly advocated “taking the waters”, and the seaside became more popular throughout the 18th Century. The expansion of railways gave rise to holidays and daytrips to the coast — “glamorous” destinations — and a whole new wardrobe was born.

Bloomers, seaside pyjamas, natty outfits for strolling, boating and bathing — there was an influx of new fashions. Some were significantly more relaxed and daring than the conservative styles of the day.
Some of these early ensembles live on in the soft, Empire-inspired Indian pyjamas reinvented as palazzo pants or floaty hareem trousers.

Perhaps one of the most well-known seaside fashion essentials is the Breton striped top. Typically a cotton top with blue or navy stripes, it hails from Britany in northern France, where it was naval uniform. In 1858, the shirt boasted 21 stripes, one for each of Napoleon’s victories. (The stripes also made it easier to spot seamen who had fallen overboard.)

But the shirt didn’t have any fashion cred until Coco Chanel spotted one. The legendary French designer incorporated the stripes in her 1917 come-back collection. Her designs, which aimed to elevate leisure wear and break away from the heavily corseted fashion of the time, forever changed casual womenswear.

Jerome Pugh, UK sales agent for a range of French and Italian manufacturers, distributes brands typically sold in the boutiques and stores of UK seaside towns. His brand portfolio includes Mousqueton, Travaux En Corps and iconic beach shoe brand Les Mauricettes.
“Coastal fashion always had its unique identity,” he says, “with so much of the inspiration coming from workwear and industrial clothing. It has been adapted over the years by great designers such as Coco Chanel, Jean Paul Gaultier and more recently Barbour.

“This high-end influence filters down and informs a more laid-back version for the high street or the seaside boutique market.” Of his top three brands, he describes Mousqueton as “a vibrant and colourful label”.

“Travaux En Corps is famous for its Borsalino hats, which are made from texturized paper. And Les Mauricettes create effortlessly elegant, comfy beach sandals and shoes inspired by the south of France. Even their packaging has a nautical feel — they often come with their own hessian bag.”

The brands that Pugh represents are found all around the UK coast — but he singles out the Mumbles and Pembrokeshire as up-and-coming areas. The most unspoiled, too.

By Naomi Snelling


Support, Know-how, and Care for People and Environment All Add Up to ‘the EXIM Equation’

Export-Import Bank of Thailand, known to its friends as EXIM Thailand, is a state-owned specialised financial institution under the supervision of the Thai Ministry of Finance.

[caption id="attachment_23281" align="aligncenter" width="900"] President of EXIM Thailand: Dr Rak Vorrakitpokatorn[/caption]

It was established in 1993 with the objective to promote and support national development via export, import and investment, and the provision of credit facilities, guarantees and insurance against risks.

With capital increases by the Ministry of Finance to accommodate its business operations — most recently in 2021, the first time in 12 years — EXIM Thailand has achieved self-sufficiency. It has does this through fundraising, international and domestic loans, and issuance of short- and long-term financial instruments to provide credit facilities to Thai exporters and investors.

EXIM Thailand’s head office is in Bangkok, with nine nationwide branches and four overseas representative offices in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Vietnam. They work under Thailand guidance to serve trade investment entrepreneurs that benefit for the development of the region. The bank has provided Thai trade and investment businesses with credit and insurance facilities as well as non-financial services to promote sustainable export and investment expansion.

As a Significant Financial Interest (SFI) under the supervision of the Ministry of Finance, EXIM Thailand has incorporated the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and enhanced business management structures and systems to step up as a sustainable development bank with responsibility for the economy, society and environment. It operates a robust ESG Framework and abides by the framework of the Sustainable Banking Network (SBN). The bank has SDGs in sight as it formulates its key strategic roadmap.

The focus is on exploring trade and investment opportunities in new frontier markets for Thai entrepreneurs on a reasonable and equitable basis. It provides support for entrepreneurs throughout the EXIM supply chain with economically, socially and environmentally responsible financing. It also strengthens SMEs’ competitiveness in global trade.

Amid the global shift to the New Normal, EXIM Thailand is conscient of its role in supporting sustainable transformation journeys. It has become a fully-fledged Thai Development Bank to cover a greater scope of businesses to accommodate new models.

EXIM Thailand focuses on national development: infrastructure, promoting value addition in industrial sectors, and supporting Thai businesses with the “reboot, restructure, rebalance and re-synergise” strategy.

Industries in crisis but with good prospects are targeted, aiming to help sustain and relieve impacts for business recovery, such as the service and tourism sectors hit hard by the pandemic. New industries are restructured to power Thai economic advancement in response to megatrends such as green, digital, and health (GDH), renewable energy businesses, and tech- and health-related businesses.

EXIM also provides assistance to entrepreneurs by levelling up their businesses via technology and innovation under the EXIM Biz Transformation Loan. for greater competitiveness in the world market alongside supporting eco-friendly businesses to meet the new global standards. It aims to rebalance Thai trade and investment in major markets abroad, CLMV and New Frontiers (all countries except major markets with high potential and business opportunities, such as South Asia and Africa), in parallel to its support for Thai entrepreneurs under the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership. EXIM Thailand is ready to empower businesses to step beyond borders with confidence through full-fledged products and services; and to collaborate with public and private entities.

With these responsible banking policy and guidelines, EXIM Thailand has relieved social and environmental problems, for example by launching the Solar Orchestra programme of renewable energy systems to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and facilitate access to clean energy, energy cost reduction, and application for carbon credit certificates to boost export competitiveness and carbon-credit trading.

EXIM Thailand stands ready to serve as SME incubator to help new exporters to shine on the global trade stage. The bank is also ready to connect SMEs with international trade circles through such financial innovation as EXIM Supply Chain Financing Solution, which would foster SMEs in the economic system. The bank has developed comprehensive financial and non-financial services exclusively for SMEs, from export knowledge fulfilment, business matching with foreign buyers, and filling capital gaps for liquidity enhancement to develop online sales channels.

That is a shortcut to approaching global buyers through a programme called EXIM Thailand Pavilion, an online world-class platform for SMEs to become online exporters.

EXIM Thailand offers financial and non-financial support to align operations and objectives with ESG expectations. Under its collaboration with alliance networks, it furnishes know-how to communities in areas or business sectors in need. This includes contributing to participation in the project which could enhance occupational sustainability.

EXIM Thailand remains steadfast as one of the key engines to strengthen the country’s fundamentals and develop business, society, and the community toward sustainable growth.


Level Heads, Strong Ethics, Transparency: DPM Finanzas Aims for Leadership of the IFA Sector

‘Being properly advised is not a guarantee of success — but it reduces the likelihood of failure…’

DPM Finanzas, founded in 2013, is one of Spain´s leading independent financial advisors (IFAs) which provides financial advisory services to companies and family offices, private equity, corporates, and family businesses.

[caption id="attachment_23312" align="aligncenter" width="900"] DPM Finanzas Directors Team[/caption]

DPM prioritises clients’ interests, eliminates barriers, and creates long-lasting relationships based on trust, independence, transparency, innovation, and teamwork. The team involves itself at depth, creating a comprehensive knowledge of client needs. This allows DPM Finanzas to prepare tailor-made investment proposals in which each client fully understands the features of their investment — and the risks involved.

DPM Finanzas partner, director, and CIO Carlos Farrás Fernández was formerly head of investments at Barclays Spain. He has accumulated more than two decades of years of experience in financial markets. Partner Alfonso Valdivielso shares a similar history; he was previously head of private banking at Barclays Spain and Portugal, and boasts more than 25 years of experience in financial markets.

The institutional firm is multi-disciplined, and to cover all the needs of its customers it has become multi-service: it provides ongoing advice, financial planning, financial reports and corporate finance. It is also multi-platform — clients make decisions on bank/brokerage/insurance companies — and multi-product (financial and insurance products), multi-asset (equity, fixed income, commodities), and multi-jurisdiction.

DPM Finanzas’ only source of income is from commissions charged for services. It does not to take any rebate or commission on the investments it recommends. Clients can rest assured that there is no conflict of interest in the recommendations they receive.

DPM uses the latest in financial software, first-class reporting and digital signature protocols which allow the firm to simplify the investment processes — a primary goal. The institutional firm has signed separate financial global agreements with major Spanish and international banks and insurance companies. These provide DPM clients with access to preferred cost conditions on financing operations or investment transactions.

DPM Finanzas is proud of its team and all that it has achieved on its journey to be recognised as the best privately-owned, independent financial advisory firm in Spain. “To achieve leadership in the sector, it’s necessary to attract and retain talent. We strive to be the place where every good professional wants to develop their career.” The firm follows a simple ethos: “Being properly advised is not a guarantee of success — but it reduces the likelihood of failure.”

In addition to a specialised and trusted senior team, one of DPM’s main strengths is the shared belief in transparency in all aspects of financial advice.

In Spain, independent financial advice is still in its infancy, says Farrás, “although it is increasingly in demand among high-net-worth individuals”. The sector is constantly changing. “Regulation in Europe is pushing for fee-only financial services, recognising the figure of independent financial advice and the obligation to report all implicit commissions of the products.

“The actual regulation is making the execution of the advisory service more complex. We try to ‘make the complex simple’ for our clients.” The financial sector is undergoing a strong transformation and concentration as a result of economies-of-scale and increased regulation, he adds. “But we see a clear growth opportunity for specialised boutiques like ours.”

DPM has clearly identified its niche and differentiated its services. It is currently collecting ESG preferences in a customer-suitability test. “We plan to use ESG scores in our portfolio reports,” says Farrás. “We have been incorporating these criteria in both our investment process and the selection of funds or assets.”

The firm’s ethical stance is clear. “We live honestly in the financial sector thanks to our independence, the absence of conflicts of interest, and total transparency with the client. We provide financial advice as we would like it to be provided to us.”

The business model is based on trust and helping clients achieve their goals, so all management decisions are based on both targets. Farrás states that “High-net-worth clients have complex needs, so our support team must make their lives and operations easier.”

“As a corporate leader you have a responsibility to customers, employees, the regulator, suppliers and society,” says Farrás. “That’s why we vow, every day, not to fail the trust that has been placed in us.”


IFC on Climate Adaptation: It's Everybody's Business

By Louise Muth

The impacts of the climate crisis are rapidly intensifying, as evidenced by this summer’s deadly heatwaves. Beyond slowing the pace of global warming, we must also protect our communities and adapt to living in a changing climate. Just the same way that an individual who buys a house needs to check and prepare for flooding and other extreme weather events, national economies must also act to adapt to rising temperatures. Adaptation is a significant priority for emerging markets, which are far less equipped.

As the first stop on our #JourneyToCOP27 campaign, we interviewed Anup Jagwani, a climate business manager at IFC, to get his take on why it’s time to scale up private financing for adaptation – and why IFC is reviewing its projects for adaptation and resilience.

Q: What is adaptation?

A: We cannot avoid some repercussions of global warming. So we need to proactively adapt. Climate change adaptation means adjusting to a world with more frequent extreme weather events. Resilience means being able to withstand climate impacts. Both are different from mitigation, which attempts to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to slow down climate change.

Depending on where we live, the effects of climate change differ. They include rising temperatures, fires and droughts, as well as flooding and hurricanes. They affect our food, water, natural resources, and the conditions in which we live and work. The solutions for adapting to our evolving climate also vary from place to place. Adaptation solutions can include building more resilient infrastructure, improving rainwater harvesting, or using more drought and pest-resistant seeds. Unfortunately, many developing countries have limited capacity and financial resources to do these things.

Q: Why is adaptation so essential right now?

A: Growing the pie of investments in adaptation is vital because not enough resources are being invested to counter the negative impact of climate change.

Spending now on adaptation measures can help businesses avert current and future losses. Some examples include moving a data center away from a frequently flooded area, developing a plan to minimize lost working hours during a disaster, or adhering to stricter building codes. These measures can translate into significant future savings. On the other hand, not investing in adaptation can cost companies more money because of rising insurance costs or damage repairs. So, it also makes sense that shareholders want businesses to transparently disclose all these risks and measures.

Communities and livelihoods, too, will suffer as temperatures rise. Climate change will set further back into poverty those who are already most vulnerable. Low-income countries have contributed the least to climate change but are likely to face the most impact. That is why adaptation is indispensable for IFC and the World Bank Group’s mission to eradicate global poverty and boost shared prosperity.

But we also have new opportunities. Our scientific understanding of climate change and its impacts has improved. We are better equipped today to predict climate patterns and identify the key drivers and potential solutions. Now is the time to act.

Adapting to climate change could cost the world up to $500 billion per year by 2050. Photo: Neil Palmer / CIAT

Q: What role does the private sector play?

A: Investments in adaptation represent less than 10% of all climate finance. Increasing private adaptation finance will be crucial, both for managing their own climate risk and for filling the gap in public funding.

To date, however, the private sector’s role has been limited for several reasons. There is a deficiency of resources to help companies understand their climate risk exposure and the opportunities that arise with adaptation measures. There also needs to be enough government guidance to identify priorities and public policies to incentivize private companies to get involved.

The Paris Agreement calls on countries to implement National Adaptation Plans (NAPs), which are designed to protect economies through both public and private sector action. Governments can create needs assessments, provide policy frameworks and early investments, and enable the private sector to follow. Private companies and investors can then provide financing to make projects more resilient across industries.

Q: What is IFC committed to doing in this space?

A: IFC is working to create bankable investment opportunities to both finance public goods – such as water distribution – and to protect private assets, such as buildings or equipment.

IFC is doing both – working with clients to protect themselves and building country-level resilience. For example, IFC’s new Building Resilience Index helps green building developers to evaluate climate risks and identify steps to address them. IFC is also developing new financial instruments, such as sustainability-linked loans, to help municipalities prevent water losses. We also developed an internal tool to identify climate hazards in any given location, and an approach to help governments identify and prioritize infrastructure investments and potential private sector participation.

As part of the Paris Alignment commitment, we pledged to screen every project for physical climate risk and building our clients’ capabilities to adapt. As of 2025, all new projects will be assessed for physical climate risks.

US$800 million spent on early warning systems in developing countries could reduce climate-related disaster losses by up to 16 billion per year. Photo: Milind Ruparel/Unsplash

Q: What does the future look like for IFC’s adaptation work?

A: Under the World Bank Group’s Climate Change Action Plan, at least 50%* of all climate finance will support adaptation. IFC is also working to increase its proportion of adaptation finance, and a more significant proportion of IFC’s projects are expected to have adaptation finance components. Still, we need to recognize that the actual investment number in adaptation finance alone is not necessarily the best indicator of the extent of the impact of adaptation financing. Looking forward, we expect to see more opportunities for public-private partnerships, and innovative financial structures that scale up our investments in this area.

*For the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development (IBRD) and the International Development Association (IDA)

Published in July 2022

Source


Paolo Sironi, IBM: All Eyes on Financial Services Cyber-Resilience

[caption id="attachment_20860" align="alignright" width="300"] Author: Paolo Sironi[/caption]

No industry is fully immune from cybersecurity threats, from water pipelines to healthcare, financial services included. According to experts, regulators and government officials, all signs indicate that cybersecurity is here to stay and, most of all, is categorically different from the past.

On one side of the security barricade, today’s “always-on” digital operations are driving value but also creating new vulnerabilities expanding an organisation’s attack surface for cyber criminals to exploit. On the other side, threat actors are evolving their tactics, using artificial intelligence (AI) to run algorithms that automatically probe for weaknesses and unleash more efficient attacks. This year dramatic increase of geopolitical tensions has further heightened the alert status, as governments might weigh in to expand existing forms of cyber-attacks, which puts the critical infrastructure of the most digital economies squarely in the crosshairs of hackers.

Financial services institutions are some of the heaviest investors and users of security controls, largely driven by stringent regulatory and compliance requirements. As a result, this sector has elevated itself to one of the most secure verticals in the world. However, these organisations remain a top target for cybercriminals chasing high reward pay days given the sensitive nature of the data they manage and their integral role in our global economy.

According to IBM’s 2022 Cost of a Data Breach report, produced in collaboration with the Ponemon Institute, attackers are becoming more sophisticated in their methods which leads to increasing costs for data breaches. The average cost of a data breach in financial services was $5.97M, 37% higher than the $4.35M global average. Across all industries, 45% of breaches occurred in the cloud, but those in the public cloud cost more than breaches at firms with a hybrid cloud model. Cloud migration, compliance failures, and the complexity of security systems are clear cost amplifying factors of the cost of data breaches.

While most banks still do not always apply a baseline security framework across the cloud estate, nor zero trust, the IBM study reveals that the latter reduced the cost of data breaches by 20%. This is clear indication of an action to be taken. All things important when it comes to managing the risk of cyber-security, leveraging AI automation garners the biggest advantage among other cost mitigating factors, such as expanding the collaboration between development and operation teams with DevSecOps practices (that involves introducing security earlier in the software development life cycle) and organising Incident Response (IR) teams. According to IBM’s 2022 AI and Automation for Cybersecurity research, the longer the time to detect and remediate a data breach, the higher the cost. And the top 25% of AI adopters, among a surveyed population made of 1,000 executives, report successfully reducing the time to investigate incidents by nearly one third, and the time to respond and recover by nearly a quarter.

When it comes to financial services organisations with fully deployed security automation, the IBM Cost of a Data Breach report highlights that they can achieve significant savings, as they managed to lower the cost of a data breach by 41% compared to the global average.

Clearly, the fight is on for short-handed security teams, which are easily overwhelmed with too much data from disparate sources, an abundance of tools, yet often a scarcity of insights. These challenges can easily exceed the skills of even the most knowledgeable security experts and the capacity of the largest, most talented cybersecurity operations teams. Institutions are required to deploy solid strategies for talent and transformation, as cybersecurity employees need both hard and soft skills to succeed with AI.

The scope and breadth of the effort is bringing business attention, as a consistent security posture is a catalyst for business resilience and confidence to grow in a digital economy. In 2022, IBM also surveyed the opinion of 3,000 CEOs of global organisations - across 28 industries and more than 40 countries – about their greatest challenges in the next 2-3 years. Notably, 70% of the 270 CEOs leading banking and financial markets (BFM) institutions indicated cyber-security resolutions as the major challenge (see figure 1).

[caption id="attachment_23329" align="aligncenter" width="600"] Figure 1: CEOs greatest challenges in the next 2-3 years[/caption]

Resilience is key to success in the fight against hackers and rogue actors. Attacks can be reduced, and their impact mitigated, but institutions might not be able to eliminate all risks. Therefore, it is the capability to stay resilient and recover with speed – based on a modern hybrid cloud approach with advanced interoperability and portability of IT services, coupled with AI plus automation - that adds further value to deliver on the business expectation.

The research papers can be downloaded from these IBM pages:

The 2022 Cost of Data Breach – https://www.ibm.com/security/data-breach

The 2022 AI and Automation for Cybersecurity – https://ibm.co/ai-cybersecurity

The 2022 CEO Study - https://ibm.co/c-suite-study-ceo

Paolo Sironi

Global Research Leader Banking and Financial Markets

IBM Consulting, the Institute for Business Value

Bestselling author “Banks and Fintech on Platform Economies”

About the Author

Paolo Sironi is the global research leader in banking and financial markets at IBM, the Institute for Business Value. He is a former start-up entrepreneur and quantitative risk manager in investment banking. Paolo is the author of literature about finance, banking, and digital innovation. Member of the IBM Industry Academy, his latest bestseller “Banks and Fintech on Platform Economies” explores how platform theory, born outside of financial services, will make its way inside banking and financial markets to radically transform the way firms do business. Visit Paolo's website thePSironi.com for more information.


The Connected Self: The Era of Digital Biomarkers in Neurology

Women’s Brain Project & Altoida announce results highlighting sex-based differences.

The future of medicine will be driven by connected, portable — even ingestible — devices capable of acquiring information with AI-driven, real-time analysis.

Increasing digitalisation and the emergence of more precise sensors have ushered in the era of digital biomarkers. The word “biomarker” normally indicates any type of measurement or indicator that marks a biological state of the system, e.g. as blood values or vital signs. Unlike traditional biomarkers, digital biomarkers are objective, quantifiable physiological and behavioural data collected and measured by portables, wearables, implantables, or digestibles.

The increasing integration of digital tools in healthcare will improve disease prevention, diagnosis, and treatment. Core drivers include the emergence and consolidation of care needs at individual and population levels, and the advance of machine learning and AI.

One of the key elements to boost understanding of the impact the technology will have is the distribution of information and communication technologies, or devices capable of acquiring, processing, and transmitting information. The smartphone is key. There are 6.6 billion smartphone users, growing at an annual rate of 4.9 percent — 2.9 billion more than in 2016, says the market research report Statista 2022.

According to trends, by 2027 that figure will hit eight billion.

Internet use has also grown in recent years. In April 2022, 63 percent of the global population — roughly five billion users — was connected. Of that number, 4.65 billion are on social media. The internet penetration rate is the highest value in Northern Europe, some 98 percent of the population.

Wearable devices are equipped with sensors that can capture healthcare information in real-time. These portable devices have a higher processing power Moore's Law predicted exponential growth in the computing capacity of microprocessors. This has enabled smaller, more affordable devices.

Deciphering the genetic code is one of the greatest medical achievements. The entire project cost for the Human Genome Project was around $2.7bn. The human genome contains six billion letters. The first cost about a billion dollars to sequence. Now it's less than $1000, so a one-million-fold reduction.

The digital revolution draws similar parallels. There has been growing capacity in systems biology and medicine to decipher the biological complexity and evolution of diseases. Coupled with access to information and growing interest in patient empowerment via consumer-driven healthcare and social networks, this is heading towards the “4Ps” in medicine;: Preventive, Predictive, Personalised, and Participatory.

Digital biomarkers can enable high frequency, longitudinal and objective measurements. They can monitor patients in real-time to assess response to therapy and disease progression — without the need for clinical evaluation. They often show greater prediction and identification sensitivity than traditional methods.

There has already been an impact on neurodegenerative diseases, for example the digital medical application of instrumental activities of daily living (iADL), a predictive biomarker of conversion from mild cognitive impairment due to Alzheimer's disease to dementia in individuals aged over 55.

Despite the great promise, multiple factors — demographic, genetic, and phenotypic — can influence the status of biomarkers and their predictive value.

Gender and sex have a prominent role in the development of many medical conditions. But sex interactions are not always properly addressed in clinical research, which could negatively impact the generalisation of results.

Sex is a crucial source of Alzheimer's heterogeneity and a promising target for personalised care. Considering gender in predictive diagnostics, targeted prevention, and gender-specific considerations in clinical trials allows for better diagnostic and prognostic stratification accuracy. It can also accelerate targeted drug development.
Swiss-based research group the Women's Brain Project reported a research study that explores using data from digital biomarkers to identify differences in neuro-cognitive performance based on gender.

Promising biomarker-based digital technology for early diagnosis of Alzheimer's was used to achieve this goal, using a digital cognitive assessment provided by Altoida, which is known as the neuro-motor index (NMI), which leverages a range of smartphone- or tablet-based activities using augmented reality and finger motor activities to simulate live daily instrumental activities.

Data analysis revealed that healthy males and females have detectable and unexpected differences in neurocognitive performance when evaluated with Altoida. The result is surprising, as it suggests that ignoring the complex interaction between gender and predictive digital biomarkers could compromise the early detection of disease.

The Women's Brain Project group suggests that the influence of sex on disease fades with the severity of the illness. It could be hypothesised that men and women differ in several characteristics at baseline, while these are progressively equalised with the progression of clinical symptoms over seven to 10 years.

These findings can impact:

Research into the pathophysiological mechanisms of Alzheimer’s, based on sex differences, with opportunities for personalised treatment.

Predictive Medicine: gender differences could enable more accurate predictions, critical to planning therapy and treatment options.

Precision Medicine could guide clinical practice by improving choices for prevention, diagnosis, and treatment options.

The future of research and patient care in general — and in dementia and neurodegenerative diseases in particular — is likely to be dominated by new digital tools.

The new applications add insight in specific fields of personalised care such as gender medicine, shedding light on the interplay between sex and the prevention and prediction of complex pathologies. The advances increase the understanding and treatment of diseases, and can address sex-related disparities in healthcare for a medicine that is more effective, and more just.

Principal Authors

Nicola Marino Women's Brain Project, Guntershausen, Switzerland

Alberto Ferrari Altoida Inc., Houston, TX, United States, Women's Brain Project, Guntershausen, Switzerland

Reading

Sex and Gender Bias in Technology and Artificial Intelligence: Biomedicine and Healthcare Applications

Hardcover ISBN: 9780128213926 | eBook ISBN: 9780128213933


Tribute to Her Late Majesty Queen Elizabeth II

My Lords, Her Majesty bequeaths to our country and people continuity, certainty and the strengths embedded in the timeless traditions of our constitutional monarchy. She has been our country’s chief and greatest diplomat, smoothing the path for politicians and officials with charm, wisdom, grace and memorable humour. Her Majesty imbued a lifetime of service and deep consideration with unwavering appreciation to her realms and territories, to the countries of the Commonwealth and far beyond, carrying her values, her profound sense of duty and her love.

As we enter this extended period of mourning heavy with grief, there is, however, a silver lining evident beyond the clouds, the most significant being her heir, our King. I venture with humility that the tribute that we offer to Her Majesty is to thank her for her tireless dedication and to work to ensure that her legacy endures for centuries to come.

In doing so I pay tribute to the King’s already formidable achievements. His honed skills with well-respected guidance on climate change, organic farming, the built environment and multi-faith issues—often ahead of his time—are always useful and relevant. However, particular attention must be given to assuring the continuity of our United Kingdom by listening and learning, and that the legacy of the Commonwealth evolves and modernises to ensure its continued relevance and place in the world. The King shares that resolve, I believe, by promoting the dignity of all peoples and beliefs, respect for their cultures and heritage, support for those less privileged and dialogue for greater understanding of seemingly intractable problems.

A new monarch, a new Government, a united people, an appropriate place in the world and the opportunity of a new beginning for a renewed United Kingdom—that is a good place to be. God save the King and the Queen Consort.

Lord Waverley

Chairman of Capital Finance International


General Mediterranean Holding: More Titles and Honours Than Your Average Captain of Industry

Founder and chairman of General Mediterranean Holding (GMH), Sir Nadhmi Auchi, began his career with the Iraqi Ministry of Oil after graduating from Baghdad’s Mustansiriyah University.

[caption id="attachment_23432" align="aligncenter" width="900"] Le Royal Beirut[/caption]

He rose through the ranks to become director of the ministry’s planning and development, then, in January 1979, struck out to start his own business — in Luxembourg. The new entity went under the name of General Mediterranean Holding (now Société de Gestion de Patrimoine Familial). Initial capital was just $2m. With a flair and acumen for business, Auchi soon saw opportunity — and realised that it was time to operate internationally.

Over the next 40 or so years, the GMH Group has transformed into a multi-billion-dollar asset-based multinational corporation with a paid-up capital equivalent to $510m. It has followed a strict philosophy of ploughing back profits into the group.

The GMH Group has had significant investments in banks; it was the largest independent shareholder in Banque Paribas, where each acquired 50 percent of Banque Continentale Du Luxembourg. The group owned banks, and civil engineering company Soludec SA. It was involved in meat production, aviation, the manufacture of generic medicines (200+ licences).

[caption id="attachment_23433" align="alignright" width="211"] Sir Nadhmi Auchi[/caption]

The GMH group now has presence in 22 countries, with some 11,000 personnel. Sir Nadhmi’s philanthropic raison’ d’être is to counter the sometimes-negative way Arabs are portrayed in the West, and to bridge the gap between British Arabs and their host community. He presides over the not-for-profit Anglo Arab Organisation, incorporated in England and Wales.

The group objective is the diversification and consolidation of its activities via investments and organic growth. Much of GMH’s business is in the hospitality sector — it owns or manages 24 hotels some of which are under Le Royal Hotels brand. It also operates in the leisure, manufacturing, real estate, international trade, pharmaceutical, healthcare, industrial, publication, media and power generation sectors.

Sir Nadhmi Auchi was given his personal Coat of Arms by Queen Elizabeth II. On General Mediterranean Holding’s 20th anniversary, he received a framed print of Westminster signed by 130 politicians, including then-Prime Minister Tony Blair, William Hague, and Charles Kennedy. He was the first Arab to receive honorary Freedom of the City of London.

He was made a member of the order of Knight Commander in a ceremony in St John’s, Antigua and Barbuda, in recognition of his contribution to charitable, humanitarian and inter-religious endeavours.

The Royal Order of Francis l, the highest award of the Knight’s Grand Cross, was delivered to Sir Nadhmi Auchi at a ceremony in London. His other honours include Officer of the Order of the Tunisian Republic, the Grand Cordon of the Order of Independence of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Sacred Military Constantinian Order of St George, the Pontifical Order of Pope Saint Sylvester, the First Grade of the Lebanese Order of Merit, and a Commander of the National Order of the Cedar.

Philanthropic support includes donations to the Royal Society of Medicine, the Auchi Dialysis Centre, Hammersmith Hospital London, ambulances, medical equipment and clothing for disaster relief, and the Nadhmi Auchi fellowship programme at the American University in Cairo.

Donations by Sir Nadhmi Auchi and companies controlled by him include the Children’s Heart Foundation, the International College of Surgeons, the Pakistan Earthquake Relief Commission, educational trust Zindagi, the Graham Layton Trust, Kingston Cancer Hospital, the British Red Cross, Medical Aid for Palestine, and ambulances and medical equipment for Lebanon.

Sir Nadhmi was vice-chair of the John F Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University from 1996 to 2000.

He is not alone in his achievements when it comes to the GMH fold; the boards and principal subsidiaries consist of prominent and accomplished individuals from the world of finance and commerce; all are leaders in their respective fields.


Affirmative Investment Management: a Thriving Firm and a Winning Strategy

Global manager AIM sets its sights on tackling the world’s problems by mobilising mainstream capital for impact.

Affirmative Investment Management (AIM) is a dedicated impact fixed-income specialist.

The vision is to mobilise capital to address the major challenges facing the world. The company focuses on managing portfolios that generate mainstream returns alongside environmental and social impact.

Based primarily in London, with colleagues in Australia and Japan, Affirmative Investment Management (AIM) manages over $1.2bn in assets for clients around the world.

Affirmative Investment Management (AIM) promotes transparency, measurement and reporting of impact, which includes ongoing monitoring of the use of proceeds and reporting, ensuring that investors have full awareness of how their capital is being invested. This culminates in detailed annual Impact Reports for all funds and portfolios.

Affirmative Investment Management (AIM)’s business is aligned to how the company itself invests. Its corporate sustainability structure is supported by four key pillars: people, climate, clients, and community. This reaffirms commitments such as the alignment of the business, portfolios and operations with the Paris Targets to limit global warming to 1.5°C — including net-zero GHG emissions by 2050. AIM’s annual corporate sustainability report clearly articulates the firm’s goals and progress.

Affirmative Investment Management applies a three-step investment process: verification, portfolio management, and measurement and reporting.

The SPECTRUM Process

SUSTAINABLE — Aligned with SDGs and the Paris Agreement on Climate Change.
POSITIVE EXTERNALITIES — Positive environmental and/or social externality associated with issuance.
ETHICS and ISSUER CONDUCT — Issuers must have appropriate governance, policy, and operational conduct.
CREDIT — Issuers must be financially credit-worthy.
TRANSPARENT — Clear and transparent investment policies and processes on reporting and disclosure.
RESPONSIBLE ISSUER — Issuers must have integrity and high ESG standards, as well as a clear commitment to a sustainable model.
USE OF PROCEEDS — Ability to determine use of proceeds in the issuer framework to assure AIM criteria are met.
MEASURABLE IMPACT — All securities must offer mainstream market yields and provide reporting on the material and measurable environmental and social impacts.

Verification encompasses sustainability and credit assessments, and is a crucial first step in defining the investable universe. AIM’s verification process, termed SPECTRUM, combines positive selection for impact, and environmental, social and governance risk assessment across a range of criteria at issuer and issuance levels. The result is an approved SPECTRUM universe of labelled and unlabelled green, social, and sustainability bonds. Every bond has a measurable environmental and/or social impact.

The portfolio management team solely manages portfolios for risk-adjusted returns against mainstream benchmarks.

The final step in the AIM investment process is the evidencing of financial returns and impact. A vital component of the firm’s philosophy is transparency for investors. Clients can annually monitor the impact of their investments via reports that detail portfolio-weighted use of proceeds allocation across sectors and geographies. There is also an independent assessment of greenhouse gas (GHG) footprints (Scope 1, 2 and 3), savings, and alignment with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

In 2020, AIM’s global portfolios funded more than 2,551 projects in 165 countries (that’s 75 percent of nations). Some 189,219 tonnes of GHG emissions were prevented from escaping into the atmosphere each year, a saving of 64 percent.

By collecting impact data in-house and engaging with issuers, AIM consistently achieves coverage rates of over 90 percent for all portfolios. Over 2021 AIM carried out 170 engagements with issuers. In line with its philosophy, AIM is transparent on methodology, seeking standardisation of impact reporting.

AIM also produces quarterly reports, which include example profiles on held issuers and issuance.

Calculation methodologies are disclosed in the appendix of reports, and AIM has worked on the Carbon Yield Methodology in 2016, partnering with ISS-ESG and Lion’s Head Global with funding from the Rockefeller Foundation.

AIM continues to innovate to deliver insights and meaningful reporting. This year, it will report project-level net-zero alignment for the first time, alongside emissions analysis. The sustainability team engages with issuers and has been conducting a thematic engagement on issuers' net zero commitments across sectors. The outcome of this analysis will be featured in AIM's impact reporting.

AIM’s European funds are Article 9 under the EU Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation (SFDR), the highest possible sustainability categorisation. Although not required until 2023, AIM is incorporating some SFDR metrics into this year's Impact Report, reporting on the adverse impacts of portfolios alongside the positive and social impact achieved.


Take AIM, then Act: Leaders Taking their Firm to the Top

Affirmative Investment Management (AIM) is exclusive: it manages only fixed income portfolios that generate mainstream returns as well as environmental and social impact.

The sustainability team is responsible for the verification of the SPECTRUM Bond universe, and evidence of those impacts. It is led by four senior members, all experts in their fields: Tess Evans-Rong, Katie House, Daniel Kricheff, and Lisa Wong.

Tess Evans-Rong – Partner, Sustainability

Tess Evans-Rong has more than 10 years’ experience in responsible investment and ESG analysis. She joined AIM in 2016, after managing the market and data-analysis team at the Climate Bonds Initiative (CBI).

She launched the first public list of green bonds at CBI, and worked with the UNFCCC to add green bonds to its NAZCA Climate Action platform. Prior to that, Tess spent three years at BlackRock, where she was an associate in Corporate Governance and Responsible Investment.

As well as bond research and analysis, Tess drives the development of AIM’s internal impact database, which is leveraged for verification analysis and data collection. It is crucial for providing clients with transparent information.

Katie House – Partner, Sustainability

Katie House has deep expertise in the use of proceeds bonds, having specialised in green, social, and sustainability fixed income for seven years.

Katie joined AIM in 2019 after time as a senior research analyst at Climate Bonds Initiative, focusing on the Climate Bonds Standard: a certification scheme and rule set defining green bond financing eligibility for projects and assets across sectors.

She also supported the development of the European Commission’s Sustainable Finance Taxonomy. At AIM, Katie leverages her expertise in the creation of the investable universe and AIM’s award-winning impact reports.

Katie also drives AIM’s SFDR-related reporting and sits on various industry working groups as part of AIM’s collaboration with sustainability peers.

Daniel Kricheff – Partner, Sustainability

Daniel Kricheff has extensive experience internationally as an academic and within the United Nations. He began his career working as a communications strategist and speechwriter at the UN, holds a PhD in Anthropology and was most recently a visiting research fellow at University College London.

Daniel has worked on economic development and conducted research in developing and emerging markets, including establishing a sustainable forestry investment initiative in Central Africa and developing quantitative impact assessment tools.

He joined AIM in 2020, and leads AIM's work on transition finance, a scalable, data- and research-driven approach to financing the transition to a low carbon economy, including identifying opportunities to drive GHG emissions reductions in hard to abate and major emitting sectors.

Lisa Wong – Partner, Sustainability

Lisa Wong has been at the forefront of sustainable fixed income for 11 years. She started her career with Citi’s social finance group, specialising in private debt in frontier market financial institutions.

She has experience across global, private and public sustainable-debt markets in frontier, emerging and advanced economies.

Lisa joined AIM in 2015 and was instrumental in setting-up the verification and impact reporting processes. At AIM, she has designed award-winning impact management and reporting capabilities, and co-developed market-leading climate impact-assessment tools on transition and physical risk.

Lisa previously worked at Nikko Asset Management, where she was part of the team that launched one of the world’s first dedicated green bond funds.


Copernicus Wealth Management: A Winning Recipe for Remarkable Growth

Copernicus Wealth Management was founded in 2016 and since then the company has enjoyed a rapid growth. CEO Marco Boldrin, as a good Italian, compares the success to the culinary art: “As in a cooking recipe, what provides the quality of the end result is the proper mix and balance of ingredients. Certainly our ambition - and our vision - of being a centre of excellence with regard to financial services and becoming a hub for other asset managers within the Swiss financial centre and economy environment, is proving decisive.”

[caption id="attachment_23504" align="aligncenter" width="900"] CEO: Marco Boldrin[/caption]

Another key factor that makes growth sustainable over time is the entrepreneurial spirit that characterises not only the partners but also the other members of the organisation. Last but not least, the team believes in what they do and how they do it.

Having grown to a team of fifty, the company has put in place a well-organised delegation process, sharing and involving colleagues in the decision-making process. Knowing that it is the people who make the difference allows them to share responsibility and foster a feedback culture on a daily basis.

Boldrin believes resolutely in not just meeting, but exceeding clients’ expectations:

“This is definitely our aspiration. I believe it is of utmost importance listening to the customer and understanding his or her needs in order to provide with the most appropriate tailor-made solution.”

Copernicus Wealth Management has certainly met the challenge of the recent pandemic and has managed a merger, a takeover and further expansion since 2020. I asked him how they had managed that:

“As is often the case, it is precisely in times of uncertainty and difficulty that the best opportunities emerge, and they have to be seized. Believing in one's own vision, business model and capabilities as well as seeing the change as an opportunity and not as a risk is what allows you to navigate even in stormy waters while keeping your course towards the destination. Pragmatism, analytical and decision-making skills, and let's face it, even a bit of healthy entrepreneurial recklessness, have enabled us to pursue our growth targets. Even in the current difficult international and macroeconomic environment, we continue with our process of consolidation and sustainable growth.”

Opening an office in Zurich has been a major step in becoming a player at the Swiss level, while preserving its roots and also developing expertise and attracting talent from the South of the Alps. Having an active presence in Zurich is essential to that end.

When I asked Boldrin if the company’s expansion would lead to a broader offer of services, he explained that Copernicus’ growth is focused more on clients than on expanding its range of products.

Given the Zeitgeist, we at CFI.co are always interested in ESG investments. He expressed enthusiasm on this point:

“ESG issues are definitely becoming more and more relevant, and we too are keeping up with this trend by developing products and services that are in line with the market standards. Besides this, as a company we are also directly involved in financially supporting environmental and social initiatives in the local area. Last but not least, in terms of governance, the chairperson of our board of directors is a woman.”

That Copernicus Wealth Management has managed to grow so exponentially in these turbulent times demonstrates the dedication and ingenuity of the team and certainly augurs well for the future.