Europe

Amanda Knox takes the stand in murder trial

The American is expected to defend herself against charges of murder and sexual assault over the 2007 killing of a British student in Italy.

PERUGIA, ITALY // An American suspect is expected to defend herself against charges of murder and sexual assault when she takes the stand Friday in the trial for the 2007 killing of a British student in Italy. Amanda Knox, an exchange student from Seattle, is on trial in the central Italian town of Perugia for the death of her roommate, 21-year-old Meredith Kercher. Ms Knox and her co-defendant Raffaele Sollecito, her former Italian boyfriend, have always denied wrongdoing.

"She's a bit nervous about going on to the stand, but she's also quite confident in what she has to say and that the truth will come out during her testimony," the American's father, Curt Knox, told CBS' Early Show yesterday. "She is going to be telling the truth and answering all of the questions, and hopefully the court will see that and see that she had nothing to do with this and that she's 100 per cent innocent," Mr Knox said, speaking from Perugia.

He said during the testimony his daughter would be speaking Italian, which she mostly learnt during the year and a half she has spent in jail. Ms Knox's lawyer Luciano Ghirga said today's questioning would be "long and hard" but would turn out to be in his client's favour. "She has nothing to lose, and everything to gain," Mr Ghirga said. Ms Kercher was found on Nov 2, 2007 in a pool of blood in the apartment she shared with Ms Knox. Prosecutors allege the defendants strangled and stabbed her neck and say the Briton was killed during what began as a sex game.

Ms Kercher's wounds were compatible with a kitchen knife the prosecution says might have been the murder weapon. The knife was found at Mr Sollecito's house and prosecutors say Ms Knox's DNA was found on the handle and Ms Kercher's was found on the blade. Ms Knox and Mr Sollecito, jailed since shortly after the slaying, have given conflicting statements over their whereabouts the night of the murder.

Ms Knox initially said she was at home and implicated the Congolese owner of a bar where she worked. The man was cleared after being detained for two weeks, and Ms Knox has since insisted she was not at home during the slaying. Mr Sollecito has said he was at his own apartment in Perugia, working at his computer. He said he does not remember if Knox spent the whole night with him or just part of it.

The two risk Italy's stiffest punishment, life imprisonment, if convicted of murder. The trial began in January and a verdict is expected after a summer break. A third suspect in the case, Ivory Coast national Rudy Hermann Guede, was found guilty of murder and sexual violence and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. He was given a fast-track trial at his request, and his appeal is set to start in November. He too denies wrongdoing.

*AP

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Dubai launched the pilot phase of its real estate tokenisation project last month.

The initiative focuses on converting real estate assets into digital tokens recorded on blockchain technology and helps in streamlining the process of buying, selling and investing, the Dubai Land Department said.

Dubai’s real estate tokenisation market is projected to reach Dh60 billion ($16.33 billion) by 2033, representing 7 per cent of the emirate’s total property transactions, according to the DLD.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”