India’s largest insurer LIC on Wednesday said it is willing to participate in India’s maiden sovereign wealth fund National Investment and Infrastructure Fund (NIIF) as the state-owned company’s own core focus is also on infrastructure investment. “LIC has enough funds to invest in NIIF. LIC’s core focus is infrastructure investment. There is no problem in investment quantum,” LIC Chairman S K Roy said.
The government has set up the Rs.40,000 crore NIIF to facilitate funding in infrastructure projects. NIIF has already signed an MoU with Russia’s Rusnano, the Abu Dhabi Infrastructure Authority (ADIA) and the Qatar sovereign wealth fund, Quatar Investment Authority (QIA) to study investment opportunities in the Indian infrastructure sector………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Libyan Investment Authority isn’t only pursuing its interests through legal action against top global financial firms, but also lobbying the United Nations Security Council to soften an asset freeze on its funds to halt their declining value.
The LIA’s actions are sending a clear message to financial institutions eager to engage in business with the multi-billion dollar fund: tread carefully, said compliance and sanctions experts. Not only has the LIA become very litigious, but the licenses to transact with the conflict-torn and financially-sanctioned African nation are hard to get and quite restrictive, they said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Abu Dhabi sovereign-wealth fund International Petroleum Investment says it is pursuing arbitration in a London court for about $US6.5 billion ($8.8bn) it says it is owed as a result of a dispute with Malaysian state investment fund 1Malaysia Development Berhad.
The dispute erupted in April, when IPIC accused 1MDB of reneging on key provisions of an agreement last year that saw it extend a billion-dollar loan to 1MDB and assume responsibility for interest payments on some of its debt. IPIC later said it would only make those payments as an official guarantor on two 1MDB bonds and that it intended to pursue repayment from Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Reuters (13 June 2016) citing “La Lettre de l’Expansion” reported that the Kuwait Investment Authority (KIA) wants to sell its stake in French State owned nuclear group Areva. Reportedly, KIA said that they invested in Areva “based on incorrect company accounts“.
According to Reuters, KIA paid 600 million euros ($676 million) for their 4.82% stake in 2010, but the value of Areva shares has declined by 90% due to years of losses by Areva. The French state (taxpayer) will bail-out Areva with 5 billion euros. The nuclear reactor part of Areva will be taken over by French State owned EDF in either late 2016 or early 2017………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Malaysia’s embattled Prime Minister Najib Razak denied accusations of misuse of power, graft and interference in official investigations of troubled state fund 1MDB, according to documents filed in response to a lawsuit, Bloomberg reported on Tuesday.
The report said Najib is seeking to dismiss the case, which was filed in March and led by Mahathir Mohamad, who was Malaysia’s prime minister from 1981 to 2003 and has been a fervent critic of Najib. In the suit, Mahathir, who has repeatedly said he wants Najib removed from office, alleges Najib “actively and deliberately” tried to derail investigations into 1Malaysia Development Bhd. and into allegations that funds from 1MDB ended up in his personal accounts, the report said………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Noble Group Ltd.’s credit rating was cut by S&P Global Ratings for the second time in six months, citing its weakened liquidity position and higher funding costs despite recent efforts to raise cash. The rating was lowered to B+ from BB-, with a negative outlook, according to a statement on Wednesday. The downgrade comes after a turbulent few weeks for the company.
Noble this month offered 1 rights share for each existing share at 11 Singapore cents, a 63 percent discount from the previous day. Elman, the largest shareholder, agreed to take less than his full entitlement. China Investment Corp., Beijing’s sovereign wealth fund and third-largest shareholder, agreed to take its full portion. CIC will get a second seat on the board………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Anything Uber can do, Didi can do better? That’s the message coming from the ongoing fundraising war among ride-sharing companies. Didi Chuxing (aka Didi Kuaidi) announced on Thursday morning in China that it has completed a $7.3 billion financing round, including debt.
The announcement comes on the heels of Uber’s recent financing of more than $5.5 billion from the likes of the Saudi Arabia sovereign wealth fund, car maker Toyota, investment funds like Tiger Global Management and T. Rowe Price, and private wealth clients at Morgan Stanley and Bank of America………………………………………..Full Article: Source