Satik AMDK Prince now facing many many troubles, because he is no Good Hands

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The city-state of Monaco, with the Palais Princier at center.
Photographer: Eleonora Strano for Bloomberg Businessweek
Businessweek
The Big Take

The Monaco Royals Whose Deals Have Brought Peril to the Palace Doors​

Prince Albert’s government, already under scrutiny for failing to clamp down on financial crime, faces a police investigation into corruption and conflicts of interest. The rest of Europe has had about enough.


By Gaspard Sebag and Anthony Cormier
March 1, 2024 at 8:00 AM GMT+8
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For the better part of two decades, the man Prince Albert II of Monaco trusted with his money and his secrets was an accountant who served at the monarch’s beck and call.

About once a month they met alone in the Palais Princier to discuss the running of the country, 500 acres of rock between the Alps and the Mediterranean Sea that’s been ruled by the same dynasty for 700 years.

The adviser, Claude Palmero, prided himself on discretion. He kept part of the royal family’s fortune hidden in Panama. When the prince’s wife blew past her allowance, Palmero balanced the accounts.

He paid for Albert’s secret apartment out of his own pocket, so no one could trace it back to the monarch. One day in the autumn of 2012, he had an especially sensitive matter to raise with his boss.

 

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A sign of trouble? Princess Charlene of Monaco’s Instagram account is deactivated amid rumours of marriage woes​

Reports published this week suggest Princess Charlene is living apart from her husband Prince Albert II
By Ollie Macnaughton
24 August 2023


Princes Charlene of Monaco has sparked fresh speculation. The princess’s Instagram account has been deactivated, amid reports she is living apart from her husband Prince Albert II.


Princess Charlene and Prince Albert of Monaco’s relationship timeline: 18 moments that define their marriage highs and lows
By Stephanie Bridger-Linning


A once active social media user, Princess Charlene previously used the account to champion her charitable causes and share touching photographs of her twins Prince Jacques and Princess Gabriella, now eight. The account was active yesterday but has gone dark overnight, according Hello!. But now when users try to search for the username @hshprincesscharlene they are met with the error message: ‘Sorry, this page isn't available. The link you followed may be broken, or the page may have been removed.’

Princess Charlene had been incredibly prolific on Instagram, but her posts had become sparser in recent months. One of her most recent posts was in honour of her children’s birthday in December 2022. Neither Princess Charlene nor the Monaco palace have commented.

 

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https://www.amlintelligence.com/202...omic-ties-with-monaco-san-marino-and-andorra/

INSIGHT: EU’s top regulators warn of money laundering threat in deal for closer economic ties with Monaco, San Marino and Andorra​

August 29, 2023

By STEPHEN RAE for AMLi​

THE CHAIR of the European Banking Authority (EBA) has warned of the money laundering risks of closer financial relatonships with Monaco, San Marino and Andorra.

In a letter to the European Commission, the EBA chair warned that the trio of tiny states “historically maintained less rigorous financial regulations” and “may be prone to money laundering and other illicit activities.”

The letter says that companies might be tempted to set up in the so-called microstates in a deliberate attempt to benefit from lighter financial standards, which would create “significant risks to consumers” if they sold their wares across the bloc.

Monaco is seen as a money laundering haven which received a scathing assessment of its anti-financial crime (AFC) defences from the Council of Europe earlier this year.

EBA chair José Manuel Campa penned the warning letter along with the chairs of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) and the European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA) – the trio forming the European Supervisory Authorities.

The three finance regulators said a deeper relationship with the trio could open the backdoor to illegal money and make it easier for predatory financial firms to target people in the EU.

The correspondence to officials in the Berlaymont in Brussels says plans to forge closer ties with three tiny countries that sit within its borders risks causing significant financial harm to Europe’s consumers.

 

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Media reports today said the dramatic intervention threatens to blow apart trade talks with Andorra, Monaco and San Marino just months before they were due to conclude.

The trio, with a combined population of 150,000 and bordering France, Italy and Spain, are not EU Member States but have been negotiating on greater economic ties which would allow access to the single market.

Only last January the tiny principality of Monaco received a withering evaluation of its ability to fight financial crime from the Council of Europe’s AML/CFT supervisor, Moneyval.

Fault was found in practically every basic tenet required of a robust AML and CFT regime from Beneficial Ownership, to STRs, staffing and the criminal justice system. It was one of the worst assessments of recent times for a country with an advanced banking and financial system.

The agency warned Monaco must “step up its efforts to investigate and prosecute money laundering, to confiscate and recover proceeds of crime as well as to strengthen its supervisory system.”

Monaco – the city state of Monte Carlo – is home to many casinos, banks and some of the world’s wealthiest individuals, having the world’s highest concentration of millionaire and billionaire residents

“Proper scrutiny and safeguards are essential to ensure we don’t let any Trojan horse through our gates,” said Paul Tang, a Dutch MEP for the Socialists & Democrats, who has worked on money laundering and tax legislation.

“When the European watchdogs issue a joint warning, we’d better listen.”

Financial services is only one part of the bigger association agreements with the three countries, intended to remove trade obstacles, that the Commission hoped to conclude by the end of the year.

“Any financial-services backdoor into the EU would undermine years of regulatory efforts to tighten up the supervision of financial firms. Smaller countries inside the EU, such as Cyprus, have come under intense pressure to get tougher. The bloc is also introducing a clampdown on risky cross-border digital sales,” Politico reported.

 

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Under the proposed deal with the trio of states they would have to follow some EU regulations to benefit from free movement of people, goods, services and capital.

Commission Vice President Maroš Šefčovič described the proposal as “an ambitious yet achievable goal and the Commission’s priority.” A failure to reach an agreement before the European election next June risks the plans falling by the wayside.

The San Marino government said it had read the warnings “with astonishment,” according to a spokesperson.

Problems in the past had “nothing to do with the virtuous process undertaken by the three states that have been transposing European regulations for years and that comply with the main mechanisms for fostering tax and financial cooperation between states with an effort equal to that of EU member states.”

A spokesperson for the Commission said it replied to “all letters in due course.”

 

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Business
The Big Take

Why the Business Deals of Monaco’s Royal Nephews Are Rocking the Country​

On today’s Big Take podcast, a Bloomberg investigation into how the financial dealings of Monaco’s royal nephews are bringing heightened scrutiny to the way business is done in the country.

Andrea Casiraghi, Princess Caroline of Monaco, Charlotte Casiraghi and Pierre Casiraghi attend the Monaco National Day 2023 on November 19, 2023 in Monaco, Monaco.Photographer: Stephane Cardinale /Corbis/Getty Images


By David Fox and Sarah Holder
March 1, 2024 at 7:46 AM GMT+8

Listen to the Big Take podcast on iHeart, Apple Podcasts, Spotify and the Bloomberg Terminal.

On today’s Big Take podcast, an investigation by Bloomberg Businessweek reveals how Prince Albert II’s government regularly favored his nephews in business deals. Members of the royal family deny any wrongdoing, but Monaco finds itself in the midst of a political crisis.
https://www.bloomberg.com/tips/

 

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https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.th...nt-lifts-lid-on-lavish-spending-prince-albert

600k to pay off overdraft?

That should be peanut standard, right?

 

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Top Takeaways From Businessweek’s Investigation Into Monaco’s Royal Family​

Monaco faces a crisis following a police inquiry into the business dealings of Prince Albert’s nephews and the ouster of a longtime palace adviser.

The Prince’s Palace on the top left, overlooking Monaco’s Fontvieille port.
Photographer: Eleonora Strano for Bloomberg Businessweek
By Gaspard Sebag and Anthony Cormier
March 1, 2024 at 8:15 AM GMT+8

Monaco, one of the smallest and richest countries on the planet, is recognized for its opulence—and its reputation as a “sunny place for shady people,” in the words of writer W. Somerset Maugham. It’s also been famously ruled by the same dynasty for 700 years.

An investigation by Bloomberg Businessweek reveals how Prince Albert II’s government regularly favored his nephews, Andrea and Pierre Casiraghi, for lucrative contracts in their hometown.

Members of the royal family deny any wrongdoing, but today Monaco finds itself in the midst of a profound political crisis following the ouster of a longtime palace adviser and a police inquiry into the nephews’ dealings. Meanwhile, the country awaits two looming reports by international watchdogs looking into corruption and money laundering.
https://www.bloomberg.com/tips/

 

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The disgraced courtier is Claude Palermo, Albert’s former asset and wealth manager, who was first hired by his father, Prince Rainier, the widower of Grace Kelly. Palermo was often described as Albert’s éminence grise and has long been privy to the innermost workings of the eye-watering property deals in the tax haven, where prices are over twice those in Manhattan on a square-foot basis.

Palermo came under attack in an anonymous Substack, Les Dossiers du Rocher (Monagesques call Monaco “Le Rocher,” which means “The Rock”). A little over two years ago, it began dumping incriminating and embarrassing documents and emails online.

The particular target of the Substack was the so-called “G4,” or “Gang of Four” of senior courtiers who until just a few months ago controlled vast swathes of business and property activity in the principality.


Palermo was one of them. The others in the gang were Laurent Anselmi, 61, Albert’s chief of staff; Thierry Lacoste, 63, Albert’s personal lawyer; and Didier Linotte, 75, president of Monaco’s supreme court. According to a report in the London Times, Albert has not fired the latter two but has “publicly distanced himself” from them.

https://www.thedailybeast.com/princ...nd-sleaze-allegations-in-monacos-royal-palace

 

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https://www.monaco-tribune.com/en/2...-neighbouring-towns-property-crisis-affectin/


“The housing crisis has become a reality.” In its 2023 activity report, published mid-January, the FNAIM warns of a collapse in the number of property transactions across France: 875,000 – 240,000 fewer than in 2022. This is the sharpest fall in 50 years, as the national media have pointed out. The Côte d’Azur, and more specifically Monaco’s neighbouring towns, are no exception.

That’s correct,” says Audrey Fenocchio, sales representative with the Aime Immo estate agency in La Turbie. “There has been a real slowdown since summer 2023. It’s very quiet, with very few properties for sale.” Stéphane Gastaldy, founder and director of Century 21 Agence Gastaldy in Cap d’Ail, agrees, describing “a sudden standstill in the property market.”

A standstill in terms of the number of properties put up for sale as well as the number of buyers.

Of course, inflation and the sharp rise in interest rates are the main reasons why buyers have disappeared. Or rather, a certain category of buyers: “Yes, we still receive purchase enquiries, but these are often from people who already have assets,” explains Audrey Fenocchio. “We sell mainly to foreigners, people who don’t need credit. Customers from the middle class down are nowhere to be seen.”
“When you lose 20% of your purchasing power, you put off or change your plans,” says Saïdou Bacar, owner of the Laforêt agency in Beausoleil. “Someone with a million euros at the end of 2022 would only have had 800,000 euros in 2023.”

 

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“In 2023, the number of people buying main residences fell by between 20% and 40%,” explains Stéphane Gastaldy. “Either these customers can still finance their project, but will have to pay more in monthly instalments, or they buy fewer square metres to compensate for the loss of purchasing power, or they postpone their project altogether, which is what usually happens if there is no immediate rush, such as a baby arriving. (…)

The only market that remains buoyant for the time being, unlike in other French regions, is second homes. We’re talking about a foreign clientele that doesn’t need credit and is still looking for property. These customers are not impacted by what is happening in France.”

A foreign clientele that is sometimes based in Monaco. Cyril Hennion, co-founder of the Azur’Estate agency in Roquebrune-Cap-Martin, comments: “We’re coping, because we still have Monegasque residents buying in Roquebrune. It’s an advantage we have over towns that are farther away. Buyers don’t need credit to buy.”

Saïdou Bacar does not share that analysis. Unlike Cap d’Ail and Roquebrune, which are by the sea, Beausoleil is of little interest to second-home buyers: “They’re not our core target. Beausoleil is a town where people live and commute from.”