Month: December 2017

Russian oligarch Suleyman Kerimov has been released by a French court on €40 million bail as an investigation continues into alleged massive tax fraud and money-laundering linked to the purchase of luxury villas on the Côte d’Azur. Citing a flight risk, prosecutors had asked for Kerimov to be detained as they continue their investigation.

Kerimov left the court surrounded by his own bodyguards, without making any comment. His arrest at Nice Airport last month provoked an angry response from President Vladimir Putin’s government. Kerimov represents the Caucasus Republic in the Russian Federation Council.

Kerimov is suspected of laundering money and evading millions of euros in taxes when he bought five villas on the Cap d’Antibes in another name. According to sources close to the investigation, a large portion of the payments were made in cash. A lower price was declared to the authorities in order to avoid taxes on the full amount.

Nice public prosecutor Jean-Michel Prêtre said the amount lost to the French treasury was between €500 and €750 million.

Four of the five villas were seized, the other was resold before the authorities could take it. Thirteen people have been charged during the investigation, which started in 2014.

READ ALSO

Rybolovlev charged, appears in Monaco court

The organising committee of the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo, which will take place again in January, have announced that a number of Chinese acts will figure prominently in the programme, representing the fact that China has a long history of circus performances.

Huang Yang, a slack wire walker, is a young prodigy who manages particularly difficult tricks in a discipline that is rather hard to master: she walks on her hands, swings, does a handstand on the rungs of a ladder balancing on the wire, which she manages to travel along, upside down, balancing on a unicycle. This is traditionally a man’s discipline and a woman has never achieved such feats before.

The Acrobatic Troupe of Shanghai, one of the largest circus organisations in China, will come to the Fontvieille big top with two big surprises: A Russian bar act, during which one of the acrobats manages three consecutive triple somersaults, as well as a series of double and triple pirouettes, and an acrobatic ballet of human pyramids with artistes at the top of them, balancing on one arm horizontally and doing the splits.

A total of 30 acts will be presented at the International Circus Festival of Monte-Carlo, which runs from January 18 to 28 under the presidency Princess Stephanie, along with plenty of surprises to help celebrate the 250th anniversary of the modern circus.

READ ALSO

News

Claude Lelouch, the acclaimed French director who twice won an Oscar, will preside over the jury of the 15th edition of the Monte-Carlo Comedy Film Festival, which takes place from February 26 to March 3, 2018.

Conceived and directed by Ezio Greggio, the Monte-Carlo Film Festival was the first event dedicated to comedy. This year, it will take place entirely at the Grimaldi Forum where projections, masterclasses with the most beloved protagonists of international cinema, both Italian and French, and other happenings will culminate with the usual Gala evening and award ceremony on Saturday, March 3.

“It is an honour for us that Lelouch has accepted our invitation to preside over the Jury. It will be among other things a welcome return to Monaco at my Festival, having rewarded him for his career a few years ago,”Ezio Greggio said. “Lelouch is an icon of the history of contemporary cinema.”

Director, screenwriter and producer Claude Lelouch has a long and rich film biography that started in 1966 with “Un homme et une femme” (A man and a Woman) starring Anouk Aimee and Jean Louis Trintignant, which won numerous awards including the Palme d’Or at Cannes and two Oscars for Best Foreign Film and for Best Original Screenplay.

Among his most famous films are Parliamo delle mia donne (2014), Roman de gare (2007), and I Miserabili (1995), based on the famous novel by Victor Hugo, a film for which he won a Golden Globe.

The Monte-Carlo Film Festival aims to promote and disseminate the various genres of comedy through film previews both in competition and out of competition.

The festival is a unique showcase on the international scene for a genre loved by the public, but usually considered “minor” by critics, which thanks to the commitment of Ezio Greggio and the late Mario Monicelli, co-founder of the Festival, has in fact revalued comedy in other international festivals such as Cannes, Rome and Venice.

The event has always been held under the High Patronage of Prince Albert and of the Italian Embassy.

READ ALSO

Princess Charlene kicks off Princess Grace Awards with Paramount Pictures tribute event

Société Générale de Banque au Liban (SGBL) has signed an agreement with Luxembourg-based KBL European Private Bankers to acquire two of its subsidiaries, including KBL Monaco Private Bankers. The other is KBL Richelieu Banque Privée in France.

The move is part of SGBL’s international development strategy, the bank said, adding that it requires the approval of regulators in Lebanon, France, Monaco, and Luxembourg. Pending these approvals, the acquisition would be completed in the first half of 2018.

SGBL said that it plans to use the new acquisitions in France and Monaco as an international banking platform. SGBL will hold the acquired entities through a new fully-owned group to be called Compagnie Financière Richelieu. The entities and their divisions will be renamed Banque Richelieu France, Richelieu Gestion, and Banque Richelieu Monaco.

Georges Saghbini, Deputy General Manager of the SGBL group, said that Compagnie Financière Richelieu will continue to provide private banking and asset management services through its units and that SGBL may consider some changes in the future.

“With this acquisition project, SGBL is opening a new era of development in France and Monaco,” Saghbini added.

“Indeed, we intend to develop a long-term industrial project for the Richelieu Bank and all of its employees. It is our will and our commitment.”

The SGBL group includes subsidiaries in Cyprus, Jordan, and the United Arab Emirates. With total assets of €16.1 billion ($19 billion) at the end of 2016, SGBL is one of Lebanon’s five largest banks. It operates 90 branches with a workforce of more than 2,000 employees.

SGBL manages around €21.4 billion in assets under management, and has branches in Cyprus and Jordan. The company is owned by majority shareholder Antoun Sehnaoui. Société Générale holds a 16.78 percent stake.

The KBL epb group provides private banking services in 50 cities across Europe. The group’s assets under management were €51 billion ($60 billion) at the end of 2016.

READ ALSO

Credit Agricole’s Indosuez WM to buy Banca Leonardo

The Christmas Village opens its doors to the public on Wednesday, December 6, plunging the Principality a little more into the magic of Christmas. For this 18th edition, which runs until Sunday, January 7, 2018, on the Port of Monaco, the Christmas Village invites visitors to discover the “Workshops of Santa Claus,” the theme chosen by the Communal Council and the Town Hall’s Entertainments Service.

Young and old can discover scenes depicting the workshops of Santa Claus – a reindeer barn, gift wrapping, carpentry, books, games, confectionery, dolls, bicycles – all to be found in the heart of the Village. In addition, the fair includes the traditional Ferris wheel (at La Rascasse), the inevitable carousel, a large Christmas tree and a giant snow globe – and a real forest composed of 456 natural spruces.

The skating rink also opens on December 6, and will be open until March 11. People with reduced mobility will be able to join the fun this year through the provision of an eisgleiter (double runner), a platform equipped with skates on which a wheelchair can be installed.

Many events are planned on the ice throughout the winter, starting with an aperitif-concert on December 21 from 7 pm to 11 pm with the Outremer Group. Patin’air Troupe are putting on a free ice show “Christmas Follies on Ice” on Saturday, December 23 at 5:30 pm, and the Monaco Skating Championship will take place on Saturday, February 24, 2018. Plus, there will be the now-traditional sessions of electric radio controlled cars for model-making fans from December to March.

But the big novelty of the winter at the open skating rink is the installation of a free fall simulator providing thrills and a real feeling of freedom without the risks associated with the practice of this extreme sport. This has been a project inspired and planned by middle school students.

Visitors are asked to carry lightweight bags to simplify security checks at the entrance and note that the bridge over Boulevard Albert I is not accessible to the public.

READ ALSO: 10 days until Annual Christmas swim

A day in the life of the Prince

For six years the Principality of Monaco has been associated with the commemoration of the United Nations International Day of Disabled Persons, held each year on December 5.

The Department of Health and Social Affairs – through the Social Inclusion and Disability Division of the Directorate of Action and Social Aid – organised a Monegasque Meeting on Disability, held at the Auditorium of the Monaco Technical and Hotel School on Tuesday, in the presence of Didier Gamerdinger, Minister of Health and Social Affairs.

A presentation was made by Marie-José Schmitt, Vice-President of European Action for the Disabled, on the rights of persons with disabilities in relation to the convention.

Earlier this year, on September 19, Prince Albert took part in the opening of the General Debate of the 72nd session of the United Nations General Assembly. Before delivering His Address, the Sovereign Prince had deposited the Instrument of Ratification of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities. The convention was made enforceable in the Principality by Sovereign Order of November 2, 2017.

READ ALSO 

Principality providing direct help to child victims