Steve Bannon sentenced to 4 months in prison for defying January 6 subpoena


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Steve Bannon, a former chief strategist for Donald Trump, was sentenced to four months in prison on Friday after he was convicted of contempt of Congress for failing to comply with a subpoena related to a US House of Representatives investigation into the January 6 insurrection.

Before Friday's sentencing, the US federal judge said Bannon had expressed no remorse over his actions relating to the Capitol riot.

He was also ordered to pay a $6,500 fine.

Bannon has two weeks to file his appeals, which his lawyers say they intend to do. If he fails to do so, he will be required to turn himself in by November 15.

He declined to address the judge before his sentencing but delivered defiant remarks outside the courthouse, saying the midterm elections will be the Democratic Party's day of proverbial judgment.

"Today was my judgment day by the judge," Bannon told reporters.

"But ... on November 8, they are going to have judgment on the illegitimate Biden regime, and quite frankly, [House Speaker] Nancy Pelosi and the entire committee."

Bannon was convicted in July on two counts of contempt of Congress: one for refusing to appear in a deposition and another for refusing to provide documents.

Prosecutors accused Bannon of pursuing a “bad faith strategy” by seeking to delay the proceedings. The former Trump adviser has yet to provide testimony or documents to the House committee, prosecutors wrote.

The January 6 committee had sought evidence from Bannon over his involvement in Mr Trump's efforts to overturn the 2020 presidential election result.

Video footage aired by the January 6 committee during a public hearing showed Bannon was apparently aware of the violence to come on the day Mr Trump's supporters stormed the Capitol.

“All hell is going to break loose tomorrow. Just understand this: all hell is going to break loose tomorrow,” he said on his podcast the day before January 6.

Bannon's lawyers said he was bound by executive privilege. That argument was rejected by both the House committee and the judge overseeing the case, as Bannon was sacked as chief White House strategist by Mr Trump in 2017 and was a private citizen when he consulted with the former president before the assault.

The January 6 committee has sought evidence from other members of Mr Trump's circle including former White House adviser Peter Navarro.

Mr Navarro was charged with contempt of Congress after failing to comply with the January 6 committee's subpoena. He faces a trial start date of November 17.

Reuters contributed to this report

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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.”

Updated: October 21, 2022, 6:24 PM