Norway’s largest pension fund has blacklisted Petrobras over concerns that the state-controlled oil company at the centre of a Brazilian bribery scandal is prone to further corruption problems beyond its home market.
KLP, which oversees NKr553bn ($67bn) of assets, said it would no longer invest in Petrobras due to the “unacceptable risk” of future problems at the company. KLP is the first large investor to publicly blacklist Petrobras since a vast bribery scandal emerged at the company in 2014, costing it at least R$6.2bn ($1.7bn) in corruption-related losses………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Developed economies must reverse a two-decade decline in stock market listings to attract investment and revive growth, Norway’s $870 billion sovereign wealth fund, the world’s largest, said on Wednesday.
Governments must convince firms to go public by offering tax breaks and slashing red tape, while bankers should cut the cost of initial public offerings and index providers must include more stocks in benchmarks, the chief investment officer of Norges Bank Investment Management (NBIM) told Reuters………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The State Oil Fund of Azerbaijan (SOFAZ) has appeared today at the foreign exchange auction of the Central Bank as a seller. According to SOFAZ, today it has applied for sale of $50 million and sold them.
“32 banks became the buyers,” the Fund said. At the previous auction the Fund sold $50 million to 28 banks, including the Central Bank. The Fund promises to continue selling currency through CBA auctions………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Swiss-based private bank BSI is taking the country’s financial regulator to court to appeal “unlawful and disproportionate sanctions” imposed last month in relation to the bank’s business with the Malaysian sovereign wealth fund 1MDB.
The Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has ordered BSI to disgorge CHF95 million ($99 million) in profits for “serious breaches” of anti-money laundering rules. FINMA also effectively closed down the BSI, whose business is being taken over by EFG Bank, and is taking action against two executives………………………………………..Full Article: Source

Singapore sovereign investment arm Temasek Holdings executed a landmark transaction this week with its $1.1bn Astrea III securitization backed by cashflows generated by private equity funds. But despite the rarity of the deal and the difficulty in coming up with a price gauge, Temasek managed to expand the appeal of the product to a more diversified investor base.
Temasek had a clear set of targets in mind for what it wanted to achieve with Astrea III. For starters, it wanted to further the development of private equity collateralised fund obligations, having been one of the very few globally to bring such deals out………………………………………..Full Article: Source

The Hedge Fund Standards Board (HFSB), the global standard-setting body for the hedge fund industry, has appointed Managing Director and Head of the External Managers Department at GIC Betty Tay to its board of directors.The board also established the Asia Pacific Committee (APAC Committee).
GIC, formerly known as Government of Singapore Investment Corporation, is a sovereign wealth fund established by the Government of Singapore in 1981 to manage Singapore’s foreign reserves and has more than $100 billion in assets in more than 40 countries worldwide, according to the company. (Press Release)

So, Mayhoola for Investments — the Qatari sovereign wealth fund that owns Valentino, Anya Hindmarch and Pal Zileri, and that is backed by Qatar’s royal family — has bought Balmain, the Paris fashion house backed by the Kardashians (well, not exactly backed, but they are its biggest cheerleaders). This could have big repercussions on what we all wear.
Since 2005, when the designer Christophe Decarnin transformed the couture house to haute rock ‘n’ roll hotness, Balmain has been a brand whose buzz — with its own name, “Balmainia” — is significantly bigger than its bite of the market………………………………………..Full Article: Source