Alshair Fiyaz

Last updated
Alshair Fiyaz
Born1972
NationalityBelgian
Occupation(s)Businessman
Private equity investor

Alshair Fiyaz is a Belgian entrepreneur and investor of Pakistani origin. He is the founder of the investment company ALFI investments and the owner of Polo Club de Saint-Tropez-Haras de Gassin.

Contents

Biography

Fiyaz born in 1972 in Belgium to a Pakistani businessman father. [1]

Alshair Fiyaz is the founder of ALFI Investments, active in the shipping and financial services business. [2] He is also a Polo player and became the owner of the F Polo Team in 2006. [3] He became the owner of Polo Club de Saint-Tropez-Haras de Gassin in 2014. [4]

In 2009, Fiyaz, under the name Solstra Holding, bought Magasin du Nord, an upmarket Danish department store chain, in a joint venture with Straumur Investment Bank. [5] He made a bid to acquire A-Tec's Montanwerke Brixlegg unit in 2011, though he pulled out later. [6] In 2012, Alshair's Solstra Holding bid for the fashion chain Peacocks [7] but it had been sold to the Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group. [8] He purchased a major stake in Bella Center [9] and Bella Sky Hotel in Copenhagen [10] and the Marriott Hotel in 2014 through the Solstra Capital Partners. [11]

In 2020, Fiyaz partnered with the city of Copenhagen to develop the district Bellakvarter to be fully powered by green energy. [12]

FCA vs Fabiana Abdel-Malek & Walid Choucair trial

Fiyaz was mentioned during the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) vs Fabiana Abdel-Malek and Walid Choucair insider dealing trial that took place in 2018 and 2019. Abdel-Malek was employed as a senior compliance officer by the investment bank UBS AG in their London office and used her position to identify inside information which she passed to her family friend Choucair, an experienced day trader of financial securities, using pay-as-you-go mobile telephones. The pair were sentenced to 3 years imprisonment each. [13] [14]

During the trial, Walid Choucair alleged in his testimony that he obtained trading tips from several traders he knew including Alshair Fiyaz and not from Fabiana Abdel-Malek. In his ruling, Lord Justice Nigel Davis of the Criminal Court of Appeal said of the defendants: "The jury, having evaluated their evidence, did not believe them. The jury were made sure, on all the evidence, that the counts of insider trading on the indictment had been proved". Fabiana Abdel-Malek and Walid Choucair lodged an application to the Court of Appeal in 2020, which was rejected due to insufficient grounds. Their convictions were upheld. [15] [16]

Philanthropy

Fiyaz has contributed to numerous charitable projects over the years. The criteria were to encourage social mobility regardless of international borders and other racial, religious, and cultural restrictions, to support the development of underprivileged people, communities and biodiversity. For instance, the initiatives sponsored both Jewish orphanages in Pinsk, Belarus, and Palestinian refugee camps in Lebanon. [17] [18]

Fiyaz provided aid for the emergency distribution of winter shelter for 1,600 families suffering from the destruction of their homes by the Kashmir earthquake in 2005. [19]

In 2017, Fiyaz founded the non-profit ALFI Foundation. The foundation has supported the New York-based Face-to-Face Project, which fosters comprehensive organic farming methods to protect the environment and supports community service projects to promote youth development in Malawi. [20]

The ALFI Foundation is a major supporter of UNICEF's efforts to eliminate polio in Pakistan. [17]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Investment banking</span> Type of financial services company

Investment banking is an advisory-based financial service for institutional investors, corporations, governments, and similar clients. Traditionally associated with corporate finance, such a bank might assist in raising financial capital by underwriting or acting as the client's agent in the issuance of debt or equity securities. An investment bank may also assist companies involved in mergers and acquisitions (M&A) and provide ancillary services such as market making, trading of derivatives and equity securities, FICC services or research. Most investment banks maintain prime brokerage and asset management departments in conjunction with their investment research businesses. As an industry, it is broken up into the Bulge Bracket, Middle Market, and boutique market.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banking in Switzerland</span>

Banking in Switzerland dates to the early 18th century through Switzerland's merchant trade and over the centuries has grown into a complex and regulated international industry. Banking is seen as emblematic of Switzerland and the country has been one of the largest offshore financial centers and tax havens in the world since the mid-20th century, with a long history of banking secrecy and client confidentiality reaching back to the early 1700s. Starting as a way to protect wealthy European banking interests, Swiss banking secrecy was codified in 1934 with the passage of a landmark federal law, the Federal Act on Banks and Savings Banks. These laws were used to protect assets of persons being persecuted by Nazi authorities but have also been used by people and institutions seeking to illegally evade taxes, hide assets, or to commit other financial crime.

The United Services Automobile Association (USAA) is an American financial services company providing insurance and banking products exclusively to members of the military, veterans and their families. It was founded in 1922 in San Antonio, Texas, by a group of 25 U.S. Army officers as a mechanism for mutual self-insurance, when they were unable to secure auto insurance because of the perception that they, as military officers, were a high-risk group.

In general, compliance means conforming to a rule, such as a specification, policy, standard or law. Compliance has traditionally been explained by reference to deterrence theory, according to which punishing a behavior will decrease the violations both by the wrongdoer and by others. This view has been supported by economic theory, which has framed punishment in terms of costs and has explained compliance in terms of a cost-benefit equilibrium. However, psychological research on motivation provides an alternative view: granting rewards or imposing fines for a certain behavior is a form of extrinsic motivation that weakens intrinsic motivation and ultimately undermines compliance.

An independent financial advisers (IFA) is a professional who offers independent advice on financial matters to their clients and recommends suitable financial products from the whole of the market. The term was developed to reflect a United Kingdom (UK) regulatory position and has a specific UK meaning, although it has been adopted in other parts of the world, such as Hong Kong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Legendary Entertainment</span> American film studio

Legendary Entertainment, LLC is an American mass media and film production company based in Burbank, California, founded by Thomas Tull. The company has often collaborated with the major studios, including Warner Bros. Pictures, Universal Pictures, Sony Pictures and Paramount Pictures, as well as streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu. Since 2016, Legendary has been a subsidiary of the Chinese conglomerate Wanda Group and American equity firm Apollo.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Canaccord Genuity</span> Canadian financial company

Canaccord Genuity Group Inc. is an investment banking and financial services company that specializes in wealth management and brokerage in capital markets. It is the largest independent investment dealer in Canada. The firm focuses on growth companies, with operations in 10 countries. Canaccord Genuity, the international capital markets division, is based in Canada, with offices in the US, the UK, France, Germany, Ireland, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Dubai, Australia, Barbados, and The Bahamas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BC Partners</span> Private equity firm

BC Partners is a British international investment firm with over $40 billion of assets under management across private equity, credit and real estate in Europe and North America. Its global headquarters are in London. The firm invests across all industries. BC Partners was founded in 1986 and has offices in New York, Paris and Hamburg. Since inception, BC Partners has completed 113 private equity investments in companies with a total enterprise value of €145 billion.

Lightyear Capital is a private equity firm focused on leveraged buyout and growth capital investments in financial services companies.

Neku Atawodi-Edun, formerly Uneku Saliu-Atawodi, is a Nigerian polo player, equine sports scientist, entrepreneur, philanthropist, and investor. She is one of the few black female polo players in the world, and the first to play professionally.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Arena</span> Multi-use indoor arena in Copenhagen

The Royal Arena is a multi-use indoor arena in the Ørestad South area of Copenhagen, Denmark. The ground was broken for construction on 26 June 2013 and the arena opened in February 2017. It has a capacity of 13,000 for sporting events and up to 16,000 for concerts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Magasin du Nord</span> Danish chain of department stores

Magasin is a Danish chain of department stores. It has seven department stores with its flagship store located on Kongens Nytorv in Copenhagen. The company is a subsidiary of the German department store retailer Peek & Cloppenburg Düsseldorf, Magasin du Nord has been a founder and remained a member of the International Association of Department Stores since 1928.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Xait</span> Software development company

Xait is a software development company, specializing in Web-based database services. The company provides its customers with software for document publishing and collaboration. Its product, XaitPorter, is a collaborative-writing software and is used by clients worldwide to create bids, proposals, financial reports, contracts and other business critical documentation. In Norway, the majority of all Oil operators use XaitPorter for writing their drilling license applications. At the 22nd licensing round in Norway, 100% of the oil & gas operator licenses on Norwegian continental shelf were awarded to XaitPorter clients. The company has been ISO/IEC 27001 certified since 2016, and has since received re-certification the following years.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Algeria–Egypt relations</span> Bilateral relations

Relations between Egypt and Algeria have been generally friendly throughout their history which dates back to Egypt's strong support for Ahmed Ben Bella's FLN during the Algerian War of Independence. This was later followed by Algeria's support for Egypt during the Six-Day War in 1967 and the October War in 1973. In addition both countries are member states of the Arab League while sharing similar views on major regional issues such as the Palestinian cause and the conflict in Sudan as well as the same vision on reforming the United Nations Security Council.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wealthfront</span> Automated investment service firm

Wealthfront Inc. is an automated investment service firm based in Palo Alto, California, founded by Andy Rachleff and Dan Carroll in 2008. As of November 2023, Wealthfront had $50 billion AUM across 700,000 accounts.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">André Esteves</span> Brazilian businessman

André Santos Esteves is a Brazilian billionaire businessman. Among Brazilian billionaires, Esteves is ranked sixth with a net worth of US$5.4 billion, according to Forbes, as of July 2024. He currently serves as senior partner and chairman at BTG Pactual, the biggest investment bank in Latin America. As a philanthropist he is a board member of Conservation International, Inteli and Council on Foreign Relations.

Revolut Group Holdings Ltd (Revolut) is a global neobank and financial technology company with headquarters in London, UK that offers banking services for retail customers and businesses. It was founded in 2015 by Nikolay Storonsky and Vlad Yatsenko. It offers products including banking services, currency exchange, debit and credit cards, virtual cards, Apple Pay, interest-bearing "vaults", personal loans and BNPL, stock trading, crypto, commodities, human resources and other services.

Regulatory technology, Abrv: RegTech, is the use of information technology to enhance regulatory and compliance processes. RegTech is most usefully applied to heavily regulated industries and activities such as financial services, gaming, healthcare, pharmaceutical, energy and aviation. RegTech puts a particular emphasis on regulatory monitoring, reporting and compliance and aims to enhance transparency as well as consistency and to standardize regulatory processes, to remove ambiguity from regulations and provide higher quality outcomes at a lower cost.

Naïm Abou-Jaoudé, born on 9 July 1966 in Jal-El-Dib (Lebanon), is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of New York Life Investment Management (NYLIM).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polo Club de Saint-Tropez-Haras de Gassin</span> Polo club in Gassin, France

The Polo Club de Saint-Tropez-Haras de Gassin is a polo facility in Gassin, France. The club includes four natural grass polo fields for high-goal competition.

References

  1. ↑ WalesOnline (2012-02-06). "Pakistani billionaire Alshair Fiyaz behind bid for Peacocks". Wales Online. Retrieved 2024-03-09.
  2. ↑ "Textile tycoon makes move on Peacocks". CityAM. 2012-02-05. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  3. ↑ "Coupe de l'Hippocampe at the Polo Club St.-Tropez". POLO+10 The Polo Magazine. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  4. ↑ "Alshair Fiyaz's Vision Becomes Reality at the Polo Club Saint-Tropez". Daily Front Row. 2019-10-03. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  5. ↑ "Debenhams steps into mainland Europe". www.ft.com. Archived from the original on 2018-02-07. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  6. ↑ "A-Tec Reopens Penta Talks to Meet Deadline as Fiyaz Pulls Out". www.bloomberg.com. Archived from the original on 2021-08-31. Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  7. ↑ Marlow, Kate Walsh and Ben. "Pakistani bid for Peacocks". The Times . ISSN   0140-0460 . Retrieved 2021-06-07.
  8. ↑ "Surprise suitor emerges for Peacocks". www.telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  9. ↑ "Playboy køber Bella Center - TV 2". nyheder.tv2.dk (in Danish). 2012-09-20. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  10. ↑ Rindahl, Jesper Kongskov og Nicholas (2012-09-20). "Pakistansk rigmand køber Bella Center". borsen.dk (in Danish). Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  11. ↑ "Copenhagen Marriott sold – The Post". archive.wikiwix.com. Archived from the original on 2007-06-15. Retrieved 2021-06-10.
  12. ↑ Waller, Nicholas (2019-07-06). "Europe needs sustainable urban development and Copenhagen is paving the way". New Europe. Retrieved 2021-07-28.
  13. ↑ "Insider dealer Walid Choucair ordered to pay £3.9 million in confiscation". FCA. 2021-01-22. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  14. ↑ walker, alastair (2019-06-30). "Fraud: Dodgy Compliance Officer Convicted After FCA Investigation -". insurance-edge.net. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  15. ↑ "Pair sentenced to three years in jail for insider trading". www.geo.tv. Retrieved 2022-11-22.
  16. ↑ "Insider trading conviction for ex UBS compliance officer upheld, says watchdog". Reuters. 2020-12-16. Retrieved 2024-03-03.
  17. 1 2 "Pakistan's war on polio may – nearly – be won". www.thenews.com.pk. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  18. ↑ "The Influential: Alshair Fiyaz Provides Aid Across Today's Most Urgent Crises" . Retrieved 2023-02-01.
  19. ↑ generasitogel. "usurped title". www.ijaam.org (in Indonesian). Archived from the original on October 29, 2017. Retrieved 2023-02-01.{{cite web}}: Cite uses generic title (help)CS1 maint: unfit URL (link)
  20. ↑ "Alshair Fiyaz Makes a Difference in Malawi". About Time Magazine. Retrieved 2023-02-01.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.