Britain’s anti-Brexit opposition leaders have agreed to thwart a no-deal Brexit through legislation in Parliament, ending talk of installing a temporary prime minister and caretaker government.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn led a cross-party meeting on Tuesday to discuss ways of stopping Prime Minister Boris Johnson taking Britain out of the EU on October 31 with no deal.
For more than an hour, the Labour leader met vocal Remain-supporting leaders Jo Swinson of the Liberal Democrats, the Green Party’s Caroline Lucas, the Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford and Independents leader Anna Soubry.
Ms Soubry, who left the Conservative Party this year because of its pro-Brexit stance and shift to the right, hailed an “excellent meeting between all the opposition party leaders this morning”.
“We agree to stop a no-deal Brexit by legislation,” she said.
Ms Swinson told the BBC that she felt “very positive” after the meeting.
Mr Corbyn’s decision to make legislative pressure could bring in more support from Conservative MPs who are fearful of a no-deal Brexit.
“The attendees agreed that Boris Johnson has shown himself open to using anti-democratic means to force through no deal,” the leaders said in a statement.
“The attendees agreed on the urgency to act together to find practical ways to prevent no deal, including the possibility of passing legislation and a vote of no confidence”.
All party leaders agreed to further meetings.
“The prime minister is becoming increasingly reckless, pushing us to a cliff-edge, for which he has no mandate,” Ms Lucas said.
Brexit Party leader Nigel Farage held a rally earlier on Tuesday in central London to put pressure on Mr Johnson to take the country out of the EU without conceding further concessions.
“Mr Johnson, if you insisted on leaving with the withdrawal agreement we will fight you in every single seat the length and breadth of Britain,” he said.
“That raises a very big question: 'Can you trust Boris Johnson on this question?'”
Mr Farage described the EU backstop, an insurance policy to avoid a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, as the “worst deal in history”.
He said he would be willing to support Mr Johnson in a “non-aggression pact” to force a no-deal Brexit.
Mr Johnson spoke with the European Commissions President Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday evening.
A Downing Street spokesman said the two had a "a positive and substantive conversation", where they spoke about G7 progress on Brexit.
“The Prime Minister set out that the UK will be leaving the EU on October 31, whatever the circumstances, and that we absolutely want to do so with a deal," the spokesman said.
"The PM was also clear, however, that unless the withdrawal agreement is reopened and the backstop abolished there is no prospect of that deal."
Mr Johnson also underlined the importance of ensuring the peace, prosperity and security of Northern Ireland.
He said that the UK government "will never place infrastructure, checks, or controls at the border".
The leaders said their teams would continue their informal discussions
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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.”
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