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Month: June 2020

AS Monaco player tests positive for Covid

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/06/2020

As part of a plan to assess the overall health and fitness of its players, AS Monaco has tested the team and staff for Covid-19, and found one person to be positive.

During the routine yearly medical and physical exams taken by the squad members of AS Monaco, two players were found to have had the virus in the lockdown period and another was revealed to have the active, though asymptomatic, virus.

The two players with historic cases are no longer contagious and have been given the all-clear to restart their training. The player with the active case has been placed under quarantine for two weeks under medical supervision, in accordance with the health protocols put in place by the government. There are no concerns for the health of the player, and he is expected to return to the field after his confinement is over.

The testing for coronavirus in AS Monaco players this past week was just one element of the screening process the team members underwent and were also extended to members of staff.   

There was a slight concern that more members of AS Monaco may have been exposed to the virus by a person outside the club who has since tested positive. This proved not to be the case.

The clubs says staff and team members will undergo regular testing throughout the season to ensure the safety of all.

 
 

EU Parliament adopts measure to boost green investment

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/06/2020

The European Parliament has adopted a key piece of legislation to add to the European Green Deal, whose aim is to increase private sector investment in sustainable and eco-friendly projects.
The new measure, called the Taxonomy Regulation, will help create a “green list”. This list is set to be a unified classification system for all sustainable economic activities in order to create a universal place that investors can go to invest in environmentally-friendly projects and economic activities.
The idea is that if investors have a list of places to invest in sustainable projects that are readily available, they will, thus assisting in fulfilling the EU goal to be climate neutral by 2050.
“The adoption of the Taxonomy Regulation today marks a milestone in our green agenda,” says Valdis Dombrovskis, Executive Vice-President responsible for Financial Stability, Financial Services and Capital Markets Union. “It creates the world’s first ever classification system of environmentally sustainable economic activities, which will give a real boost to sustainable investments. It also formally establishes the Platform on Sustainable Finance. This platform will play a crucial role in the development of the EU Taxonomy and our sustainable finance strategy over the coming years.”
The European Commission has also put out call for applications for people who would like to be a member on the new Platform on Sustainable Finance. This will be a 57 member advisory board consisting of experts from both the public and private sectors who will assist the EC in developing the EU Taxonomy more extensively to cover other environmental objectives and provide advice on financing solutions for sustainable projects.
 
 

Could “ecocide” be a new law in France?

by: Stephanie Horsman
26/06/2020

A citizen’s council is calling on the French government to hold a referendum on adding environmental protection to the Constitution to make the destruction of nature a crime.
After nine months of deliberations, a collection of 150 randomly chosen citizens voted last Sunday on a final proposal to submit to the French government on how best to combat global warming and environmental degradation. Amongst the suggestions is a law to make “ecocide” an offense punishable by law.
Ecocide is anything that causes extensive damage to ecosystems, mainly things that leave high carbon footprints or are poisonous to the land, air or sea.
The Convention Citoyenne pour le Climat (CCC) is the brainchild of President Macron, who initiated the group in 2019 as a response to the gilet jaunes movement. “We do not include our fellow citizens sufficiently in the transparent, debated construction of the solutions we put forward. So that is the idea behind the Citizens’ Assembly process,” Macron said in January at a CCC meeting.
Members were selected using an arbitrary phone number generating system and are made up of people ranging in age from 16 to 80 who were asked to come up with ideas on what could be done to reduce at least 40% of emissions by 2030.
The resulting ideas culminated in the thought that extensive ecological damage be made a crime in France and that French law should reflect this by introducing referendums on climate controls.
Making “ecocide” a crime will mean it is the legal responsibility of every citizen to take care of the environment, and in effect would give the environment “rights”. It would allow for the prosecution of those who wilfully do things to hurt the environment and would mean that CEO’s of major polluters and government ministers could be held personally accountable.
A similar bill was rejected in 2019 by the French Senate.
The CCC has presented its proposal to the Minister for Ecological Transition, Elisabeth Bourne, and will meet with President Macron on 29th June to formally present the case.
The CCC additionally proposed ending advertising for products with high-carbon emissions, such as SUVs. Placing a heavy tax on highly processed foods, and a total ban on dangerous pesticides by 2035. They also are recommending a ban on the sale of cars with high emissions from 2025, replacing them with better sustainable transportation options.
 
 

Monaco Yacht Show 2020 cancelled

by: Cassandra Tanti
26/06/2020

Despite its best efforts to push ahead, organisers have been forced to cancel this year’s Monaco Yacht Show, the most prestigious event on the global yachting calendar.
For months now, MYS organiser Informa Markets has been in discussions with stakeholders and partners involved with the Monaco Yacht Show, particularly the Monaco government, to determine if a low-density, not-for-profit, support event in the Principality would be possible this year.
Along the way, Informa had remained confident the event would go ahead if it could comply with the strict hygiene requirements set out by the government of Monaco in light of the Covid-19 crisis.
But on Friday, the organiser was forced to concede there were too many factors in play for it to continue.
“With much of the superyacht fleet currently located in the US and Caribbean and the normal calendar of activity severely disrupted, it has been agreed that it is in the industry’s best interests to postpone the delivery of a top quality, prestige experience 30th edition of the Monaco Yacht Show next year, in September 2021, rather than September 2020,” said Informa Markets in a statement.
In a normal year, the Monaco Yacht Show would attract more than 125 extraordinary one-off superyachts, around 40 of which are unveiled for the first time. For four days a year, everyone in the yachting industry turns their attention to the MYS.
Now, that attention will be diverted to the Fort Lauderdale International Boat Show, scheduled to take place this year in late October.
“Like many other industries, the international super yachting community has experienced significant disruption in 2020,” said Charlie McCurdy, Chief Executive of Informa Markets. “As we move to the other side of Covid-19, we are remaining agile in how we are supporting our partners and customers, flexing our events calendar, adapting products and providing digital alternatives where beneficial to best meet the needs of international communities through this difficult period.”
The Monaco Yacht Show is now set to return in September 2021, when it will celebrate its 30th anniversary.
 
Photo: Monaco Yacht Show 2019, copyright McClic
 
 

Development dispute doesn’t end well for Monaco

by: Cassandra Tanti
25/06/2020

The State of Monaco has been ordered by the Supreme Court to pay Caroli Immo €137 million plus interest over the abandoned Esplanade des Pêcheurs project. 

The long-awaited decision was handed down on Thursday 25th June by Monaco’s highest court, rewarding the developer about a fifth of what he was seeking.

The dispute involves the government’s abandonment of a vast culture and real estate project that was to include an underwater archaeology museum, housing, retail stores, offices, parking and a public esplanade.

On 5th September 2014, the State of Monaco and the Société Monégasque d’Etudes et des Gestion Immobilières (SAMEGI) Groupe Caroli signed a memorandum of understanding for the project and the government was set to submit a bill to the National Council to decommission the land.

But the project never materialised. On 29th July 2015, the government informed Caroli Immo that it intended to withdraw the bill, a decision motivated by “strong reservations on the part of the competent authorities, both from the point of view of [architecture] and [sizing] [of the project] as well as with regard to the constraints relating to the availability of space necessary for the organisation of important events, such as, among others, the Formula 1 Grand Prix,” according to official court documents.

Antonio Caroli sought retribution from the Supreme Court, asking for €423,065 million (excluding taxes) in compensation, while a separate claim for €180,000 million was made by Franck Goddio, responsible for building the archaeology museum. The latter claim was rejected on Thursday by the Supreme Court.

Antonio Caroli’s lawyer François-Henri Briard welcomed the court’s decision, telling Monaco Matin: “This sum is very appropriate, even if it does not correspond to what was asked. It is compensation for the damage caused.”

The National Council has expressed its disappointment that the issue could not have been resolved outside of the court, saying in a statement: “This decision comes at a particularly difficult time for the economy of our country. This sum alone represents, for example, the equivalent of what has been spent so far in support of the country’s employees and economic actors since the start of the Covid-19 crisis – almost €150 million of an approved fund of €300 million.”

The National Council said it had repeatedly called for a dialogue between the government and the plaintiff in order to avoid this difficult situation.

The Monegasque State has been ordered to pay Caroli Immo €137 million plus interest since the filing of the initial request in 2018.

Photo: Caroli Group

Monaco makes milestone MoU with tokenisation platform

by: Cassandra Tanti
25/06/2020

The Monaco government is teaming up with Blockchain startup Tokeny Solutions in its first major step to becoming a regulated on-chain finance hub.  
It was announced on Thursday that the government had signed a Memorandum of Understanding for Tokeny to become its de facto blockchain-based tokenisation platform – a collaboration that will grant Monaco’s seal of approval to quality companies.
The endeavour will support Environmental and Social Governance (ESG) projects to be approved by the government.
“Monaco is moving towards its ambition to become a funding nation for progress with our STO framework,” said Frédéric Genta, Delegate for Digital of Affairs of the Principality of Monaco. “Two key milestones were achieved: a dedicated STO law was voted by the National Council and we are welcoming Tokeny to the Principality to operate our STOs.”
Tokeny Solutions is a Luxembourg-based fintech, which is currently setting up a subsidiary in Monaco.
The deal will support Monaco’s ambition to become the world’s first State to utilise the benefits of decentralised finance (DeFi) and its aim in becoming a Funding Nation for progress, a global market where quality projects are developed and financed.
“Most of the high-net-worth people in Monaco are buying real estate to park money,” said Luc Falempin, CEO of Tokeny Solutions. “The idea now is for investors and money in private banks in Monaco to invest in green projects.”
Alongside the passing of the dedicated Security Token Offering (STO) bill, the Principality of Monaco will establish a regulatory framework to encourage projects from around the world to finance themselves through issuing tokenised securities.
Investors benefit from a selection and approval process, and the Tokeny platform makes it very easy to manage digital assets with features like a recovery process, said Luc Falempin.

For projects looking to issue a token, these will have to first be presented to the government of Monaco, which will assess and approve them. The token issuer also needs to obtain a visa and set up as an entity in Monaco.

The first project to be onboarded to the initiative is Icebreaker, a production company of producer Sophokles Tasioulis and Oscar-winning documentary filmmaker Luc Jacquet, whose repertoire includes the blockbuster documentary March of the Penguins.
“IceBreaker intends to leverage the blockchain technology to facilitate the financing of meaningful content production while retaining all associated rights, enabling new monetisation opportunities via films, exhibitions and the like,” said Luc Jacquet. “March of the Penguins and the subsequent Antarctica exhibition have demonstrated that the model can be a profitable one, making it appealing to investors.”
The regulatory framework is expected to come into force shortly.