NEWS - GLOBAL
Former Prime Minister Tony Blair has formed his own investment advisory business offering services to high net worth clients and global funds.
His Mayfair-based company has recruited senior financiers and has been authorised by the FSA, the Sunday Times reveals.
Since leaving office in 2007, Blair has amassed a fortune estimated to be in excess of £20m. When he first launched the Tony Blair Associates (TBA) consultancy business, Blair said it would provide advice on political and economic trends and government reforms. It has provided advice to the Kuwait Government and to the Mubadala sovereign wealth fund.
TBA is now able to offer a range of financial services to clients. Blair's investment firm is just one of a string of companies - each called Windrush or Firerush - he created after leaving No 10.
One of these companies, Firerush Ventures No. 3, was registered with the FSA in January this year. The paper says documents show it can offer financial services to clients and will trade under TBA.
The FSA documents state TBA can "arrange deals in investments" for clients - including shares, unit trusts and government securities.
Some of Blair's key staff have registered with the FSA for Firerush, including former chief of staff Jonathan Powell, who is a managing director at Morgan Stanley.
Blair's office also recruited Mark Labovitch last month to be chief operating officer at Firerush. He previously worked at Dresdner Kleinwort, LongAcre Partners and at Mesa Global. According to the FSA documents, another recruit is Varun Chandra, who previously worked in mergers and acquisitions for Lehman Brothers.
Firerush is authorised to trade across Europe, including Luxembourg, Liechtenstein and Gibraltar.
Blair's private sector work to date has mainly been in the financial sector, including advisory roles with JPMorgan and Zurich.
COMMENTS
Gordon Brown Start Loan Company
That's nothing...Former Prime Minister Gordon Brown today announced that he is to seek FSA approval for his new lending firm, it will be called Firesale.
Posted by: Gavin Fielding
23 Aug 2010 | 10:33
Welcome to our world
I wonder how Mr A.Blair will feel once he realises he condoned the occupational discrimination by the body set up previously by the Blair/Brown partnership - the FSA, the body that his advisory firm is now subservient to.
The FSA saw fit to discriminate whereby, unlike other occupations; builders, surveyors,(FSA staff)etc etc the 15 year longstop defence against professional negligence claims, recognised under statute law has been disallowed for professionals working in financial services.
This hits SME IFAs hardest as they don’t usually have shareholder or policyholder funds to bail them out, not because the adviser has proveably done any wrong, but to cover the time and effort in defending “stale” claims and pay the FOS their case fees.. win or lose. Not entirely an “impartial” system in the absence of the FOS charging the complainant where they are in the wrong, something the MCCB used to be able to do, to their IMPARTIAL credit !.
This allows the FOS to continue to pursue "heresy claims that wouldn't be allowed in a court of law" to the graveside of the adviser to "recover" losses that in many cases haven't actually occurred, may not occur and on a basis that continues to remain inconsistent...FOS viws it one way on one day and a different way on another day. The FSCS even has powers to jump into the fresh grave of the adviser and is on record as saying it doesn’t seek sight of the advisers file before applying charges through assumed guilt.
What a system, what a “State” !!
Thank you so much Mr Blair for this position. Perhaps you could consider sending some of your firms profits to the families of advisers hounded in retirement, homes, poor health etc who are guilty of nothing more than being an IFA and thereby trying to better the lot of Joe Public in the best way possible.
Posted by: A retired IFA reflective of a loss of rights
23 Aug 2010 | 10:45
THE BIG QUESTION
DIGITAL EDITION
@INVESTMENTWEEK
Maybe it will make you money Maybey it Won't
I have this dossier that says we have some WMD to create wealth for you. My army of investment specialists is waiting to go in and check it out for you. Is all I need is a little advance and this whole kingdom could be yours
Posted by: Bob Donaldson
23 Aug 2010 | 09:38
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