Trump Organisation and CFO to be charged by grand jury on Thursday, report says

New York prosecutors are expected to charge the Trump Organisation and its long-serving chief financial officer with tax-related crimes on Thursday, The Wall Street Journal reported Wednesday.

They would mark the first criminal charges in a more than two-year investigation by the Manhattan district attorney into alleged fraud at former president Donald Trump's company.

The newspaper said Allen Weisselberg and the Trump Organisation are expected to be charged with the evasion of taxes on fringe benefits, citing people familiar with the matter.

Manhattan DA Cyrus Vance and New York Attorney General Letitia James have been investigating whether Mr Weisselberg and other executives avoided paying taxes on perks such as private-school tuition from the Trump Organisation, US media have reported.

The Wall Street Journal said that Mr Trump himself is not expected to be charged, although a criminal indictment would deal a major blow to the ex-Republican president who has condemned the probe as politically motivated.

The Trump Organisation is an unlisted family holding company that owns golf clubs, hotels and luxury properties.

Mr Trump handed over the reins of the business to his two eldest sons and to Mr Weisselberg when he went to the White House in early 2017.

Mr Weisselberg, 73, is often described as the keeper of the company's secrets.

New York prosecutors have been trying to have him to co-operate with their broad investigations into the Trump Organisation's finances.

The Manhattan District Attorney's office is probing whether the company regularly overvalued or undervalued its assets, particularly several properties in New York state, to either receive bank loans or reduce their taxes.

Michael Cohen, Mr Trump's former personal lawyer, has alleged that they did — allegations that could constitute possible tax evasion or insurance fraud.

The investigations also centre on eight years of Mr Trump's tax returns, obtained by the prosecutors in February after a long legal battle that went to the Supreme Court.

Mr Vance's probe initially focused on hush payments made to two women who allege they had affairs with Trump before the investigation was expanded.

Mr Cohen, jailed for tax evasion and violating campaign finance laws, was one of Mr Trump's closest confidants before turning against his former boss and deciding to co-operate with prosecutors.

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.”

Men’s singles
Group A: Son Wan-ho (Kor), Lee Chong Wei (Mas), Ng Long Angus (HK), Chen Long (Chn)
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Trump Organisation and CFO to be charged by grand jury on Thursday, report says

Move would mark first charges in a more than two-year probe