Month: January 2017

The Monaco-based Superyacht Builders Association (SYBAss) has released a report indicating that ultra-high net worth individuals (UHNWI) in the Middle East and North Africa region have a statistical propensity of 20 percent to buy a superyacht built in the last 15 years.

This compares with 46 percent for UHNWIs in Eastern Europe, 13 percent in Western Europe and six percent in North America. SYBass announced the figures in conjunction with the Dubai World Trade Centre, organisers of the Dubai International Boat Show, which runs from February 28 until March 4.

In a private report to SYBAss members at the General Assembly in Monaco last September, the number of MENA region UHNWIs – a household with a minimum of $250 million bankable assets – stood at 628 in 2015, an increase of three percent on the previous year.

SYBAss members include Amels, Baglietto, Benetti, CRN, Feadship, Fincantieri, Heesen, Lürssen, Mondomarine and Oceanco.

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Monaco resident Maurice Alain Amon has won the latest round in a court battle with his estranged wife over a $25 million art collection.

Tracey Hejailan-Amon had claimed that her husband, a Swiss businessman, had removed the art collection, believed to include works by Andy Warhol and Damien Hirst, from their Fifth Avenue New York apartment shortly before filing for divorce in order to deprive her of a share in its value.

She also said that the flat in the US was the couple’s home, a claim disputed by Mr Amon who said their principle residence had been in Monaco. To back up his argument, he revealed the contents of his wife’s walk-in wardrobe and a vast collection of shoes in their Monte Carlo property.

Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Robert Reed sided with Mr Amon in finding that the art collection was her husband’s property. Earlier in the ongoing legal battle, Mrs Hejailan-Amon had argued that the divorce case should be heard in New York, rather than in Monaco, which does not recognise shared marital property.

She could also face having to pay back to Mr Amon the $70 million in gifts that he showered on her during their eight years of marriage.

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Travelling on French motorways is about to become slightly more expensive, with tollbooth charges set to rise by an average of 0.8 percent from February 1.

Toll charges did not increase in 2016, but the French government and the motorway operating companies have argued that revenues need to be increased to pay for €800 million of new investment. The plan calls for 32 new intersections and 25 car-sharing facilities, of which 11 will be in the PACA region.

A total of 5,000 jobs will be created by the work, due to start at the end of 2017, according to the French authorities, who have said that tolls will go up by between 0.1 and 0.4 percent each year between 2019 and 2021.

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A 72-year-old Italian has been sentenced by the Criminal Court of Monaco after having been found guilty of stealing a bag containing nine bank cards and two mobile telephones in the casino of the Café de Paris.

The native of San Remo was watching a poker game and took advantage of the owner’s inattention by taking the bag and leaving the building. However, surveillance cameras caught him in the act and he was arrested shortly afterwards.

The bag also contained identity papers and more than €1,000 in cash, according to the victim. The accused denied the existence of the cash. The tribunal sentenced him to three months in jail, suspended.

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Following their own annual tradition, members of the Collectif Animalier du 06 Association held a small demonstration Saturday just over the border in Cap d’Ail to protest against the use of animals in circuses.

Despite the rain, Hugo Drouard, Christian Razeau, Martine Zorilli and Anne-Marie Mariani handed out leaflets from 12:15 pm to 5 pm with the slogan “Wild animals are not slave animals”.

“The circus is human greed based on animal maltreatment,” the collective claims. “Imagine the life of these animals. There is no beauty in stolen freedom.”

The 41st Monte-Carlo International Circus Festival, which ended last week, featured a number of acts in which animals performed, including camels, elephants, lions and tigers. Proponents of the Circus Festival, which is presided over by HSH Princess Stephanie, claim that no cruelty is involved.

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