The SPFL— the case for revolution, evolution and a case of the Hamilton Whackies !

Good Evening.

As we ponder the historic vote to create a new Governing body to oversee Scottish League football, I cannot help but wonder what brilliant minds will be employed in the drawing up of its constitution, rules, memorandum and articles of association?

Clearly, Messrs Doncaster, Longmuir and even Mr Regan as the CEO of the SFA will be spending many hours with those dreaded folk known simply as “ The Lawyers” in an attempt to get the whole thing up and running and written down in the course of a few short weeks.

In truth, that scares me.

It scares me because legal documentation written up in a hurry or in a rush is seldom perfect and often needs amendment—especially when the errors start to show! The old adage of beware of the busy fool sadly applies.

It also scares me because the existing rules under which the game is governed are not, in my humble opinion, particularly well written and seem to differ in certain material respects from those of UEFA. Even then, adopting the wording and the approach of other bodies is not necessarily the way to go.

I am all in favour of some original thought– and that most precious and unusual of commodities known as common sense and plain English.

Further, the various licensing and compliance rules are clearly in need of an overhaul as they have of late produced what can only be best described as a lack of clarity when studied for the purposes of interpretation. Either that or those doing the studying and interpreting are afflicted with what might be described as tortuous or even tortured legal and administrative minds.

If it is not by now clear that the notion of self-certification on financial and other essential disclosure criteria necessary to obtain a footballing licence (whether European or domestic) is a total non-starter — then those in charge of the game are truly bonkers.

Whilst no governing body can wholly control the actions of a member club, or those who run a club, surely provisions can be inserted into any constitution or set of rules that allows and brings about greater vigilance and scrutiny than we have at present—all of course designed to do nothing other than alert the authorities as early as possible if matters are not being conducted properly or fairly.

However, the main change that would make a difference to most of the folk involved in the Scottish game – namely the fans— would be to have the new rules incorporate a measure which allowed football fans themselves to be represented on any executive or committee.

Clearly, this would be a somewhat revolutionary step and would be fought against tooth and nail by some for no reason other than that it has simply not been done before—especially as the league body is there to regulate the affairs of a number of limited companies all of whom have shareholders to account to and the clubs themselves would presumably be the shareholders in the new SPFL Ltd.

Then again to my knowledge Neil Doncaster is not a shareholder in The SPL ltd– is he?

I can hear the argument that a fan representative on a league body might not be impartial, might be unprofessional, might be biased, might lack knowledge or experience, and have their own agenda and so on—just like many chairmen and chief executive officers who already sit on the committees of the existing league bodies.

Remember too that the SFA until relatively recently had disciplinary committees made up almost exclusively of referees. I don’t think anyone would argue that the widening of the make up of that committee has been a backward step.

However, we already have fan representation at clubs like St Mirren and Motherwell, and of course there has been an established Tartan Army body for some time now. Clubs other than the two mentioned above have mechanisms whereby they communicate and consult with fans, although they stop short of full fan participation– very often for supposedly insurmountable legal reasons.

As often as not, the fans want a say in the running of their club, but also want to be able to make representations to the governing bodies via their club.

So why not include the fans directly in the new set up for governing the league?

Any fan representative could  be someone proposed by a properly registered fan body such as through official supporters clubs, or could be seconded by the clubs acting in concert with their supporters clubs.

Perhaps a committee of fan representatives could be created, with such a committee having a representative on the various committees of the new league body.

In this way, there would be a fan who could report back to the fan committee and who could represent the interests of the ordinary fan in the street in any of the committees. Equally such a committee of fans could ensure that any behind the scenes discussions on any issue were properly reported, openly discussed, and made public with no fear of hidden agendas, secret meetings, and secret collusive agreements and so forth.

Is any of that unreasonable? Surely many companies consider the views of their biggest customer? This idea is no different.

Surely such a situation would go some way towards establishing some badly needed trust between the governing bodies and the fans themselves?

If necessary, I would not even object to the fan representatives being excluded from having a right to vote on certain matters—as long as they had a full right of audience and a full right of access to all discussions and relative papers which affect the running of the game.

In this way at least there would be openness and transparency.

In short, it would be a move towards what is quaintly referred to as Democracy.

Perhaps, those who run the game at present should consider the life and times of the late great Alexander Hamilton- one of the founding fathers of the United States of America and who played a significant role in helping write the constitution of that country.

Hamilton was a decent and brilliant man in many ways—but he was dead set against Democracy and the liberation of rights for the masses. In fact, he stated that the best that can be hoped for the mass populace is that they be properly armed with a gun and so able to protect themselves against injustice!

Sadly, Hamilton became embroiled in a bitter dispute with the then Vice President of the nation Aaron Burr in July 1804. Hamilton had used his influence and ensured that Burr lost the election to become Governor of New York and had made some withering attacks on the Vice President’s character.

When he refused to apologise, the Vice President took a whacky notion and challenged him to a duel! Even more whacky is the fact that Hamilton accepted the challenge and so the contest took place at Weehawken New Jersey on the morning of 11th July 1804.

The night before, Hamilton wrote a letter which heavily suggested that he would contrive to miss Burr with his shot, and indeed when the pistols fired Hamilton’s bullet struck a branch immediately above Burr’s head.

However, he did not follow the proper procedure for duelling which required a warning from the duellist that they are going to throw their shot away. Hamilton gave no such indication despite the terms of his letter and despite his shot clearly missing his opponent.

Burr however fired and hit Hamilton in the lower abdomen with the result that the former secretary to the treasury and founding father of the constitution died at 2pm on the twelfth of July.

The incident ruined Burr’s career (whilst duelling was still technically legal in New jersey, it had already been outlawed in various other states).

In any event, in Hamilton’s time full and open democracy in the United States of America would have met with many cries of outrage and bitter opposition. Yet, today, the descendants of slaves and everyone from all social standings, all ethnic minorities and every social background has the constitutional right to vote and seek entry to corridors of power.

In that light, is it really asking too much to allow football fans to have a say and a presence in the running of a game they pay so much to support?

 

4,181 thoughts on “The SPFL— the case for revolution, evolution and a case of the Hamilton Whackies !


  1. Slim
    Don’t know if you had your tongue firmly in your cheek there
    I remember a rumour going round a wee while ago accusing peepil of having secretly bugged the boardroom at CP ,which resulted in wee Fergus and JB having important conversations whilst walking round the trackside .


  2. Craftofthousands dotting the i crossing the t’s I wonder why I enjoy the online community so much more than the SMSM. People actually doing a wee bit of research with no agenda’s well played yourself and many other’s.


  3. I am fascinated by the email dated Sunday 5/02/2012 when the alias DF goes on about the ‘pittance’ for being knocked out of the Scottish Cup by Dundee Utd that day. He goes on to talk about ‘comparing notes’ with CW on Tuesday 7/02/2012. CW responds about ‘another horrible week in the media’ after the Cup defeat.

    But let’s think about this – Less than a week later on 13 February 2012 Rangers filed legal papers at the Court of Session giving notice of their intention to enter administration. The following day HMRC made a bid to be allowed to appoint the administrators, but this was unsuccessful, and they withdrew the petition and Rangers officially entered administration on 14 February 2012.

    So alias DF and CW are having an email chat about Rangers losing a cup tie and yet neither appear to be showing any concern or signs that the whole operation is going t*ts up in days. What am I missing here? One of Scotland’s most successful businessmen plus the owner of Rangers don’t have a clue the club is heading straight down the pan.

    I wonder if what I’m missing is what isn’t being discussed – sometimes when people use aliases they also tend to speak in code as well.

    So why would CW be interested in alias DF flying 15,000 miles in 10 days and visiting 3 cities including Dubai. Possiby the most importance sentence in the email – with only one word in it – describes the trip as ‘worthwhile’.

    And CW responds that he hopes the alias DF is ‘having a good trip’. Yes I wonder about that as well and I wonder what the trip was all about – Obviously lots of Far and Middle East investment activity ended-up in the purchase of the Rangers assets from D&P and we know that Imran Ahmad and Charles Green were on board right from the admin date on 14/02/2012.

    What a coincidence it would be if there was any link between the initial consortium members and the trip by alias DF to the East – shurley not I hear you say?

    I wonder what the Bears think of this friendly email chat with alias DF and CW days before the plug was pulled on Rangers when everybody knew for months what the score was with the Ibrox finances.


  4. So it’s 30 years since New Order released Power, Corruption and Lies.

    Now why would that thought pop into my head while reading about aspects of Scottish football? Maybe it’s just the recent hot weather triggering memories of listening to the album during a similar spell of weather in ’83. Yeah. That’s what it’ll be.


  5. slimshady61 says:
    July 13, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    “Not so, several posters on RTC were fairly firm in their belief that Murray and Whyte were associates a long time ago, through Whyte’s father. ”
    ————————
    I bow to your greater knowledge slim. Perhaps my terminology was a bit too sycophantic.

    Separately, whilst having a look for David Fraser references I’m being refresshed of the older tweets by Charlotte. The following concerning a Uefa licence is interesting :

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/146504920/Licence-Issues


  6. Castofthousands says:

    July 14, 2013 at 12:41 am

    slimshady61 says:
    July 13, 2013 at 9:45 pm

    “Separately, whilst having a look for David Fraser references I’m being refresshed of the older tweets by Charlotte. The following concerning a Uefa licence is interesting :

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/146504920/Licence-Issues

    It is more than interesting and it is but one part of a timeline from 23 Feb 2011 that when it emerges will ask serious questions of all the parties involved and particularly any who made misleading statements to football supporters. .

    However the question is how best to use it to maximum effect outside the internet.


  7. ecobhoy says:
    July 13, 2013 at 11:57 pm

    So why would CW be interested in alias DF flying 15,000 miles in 10 days and visiting 3 cities including Dubai. Possiby the most importance sentence in the email – with only one word in it – describes the trip as ‘worthwhile’.

    http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/rangers-in-crisis-furious-fans-turn-1117164

    Scroll down past the Whyte stuff..

    http://www.chateauroutas.com/blog/?p=450

    Must be mightily expensive carting crates of plonk around the world on your privately chartered plane.

    Wonder if Chan Fook Meng and Rafat Rizvi dropped by for a tipple or two.


  8. A topical article which seems at least somewhat pertinent to our domestic game. It’s talking about American TV, and consequently uses baseball, NFL, and college sports as its examples, but many of the same principles are at play in UK football:

    http://www.sportsonearth.com/article/53498716

    The difference is that these American sports form a bubble which is waiting to burst. In the case of football, however, it’s already burst – it’s simply haemorrhaging money just slowly enough that the top of the game hasn’t noticed yet.


  9. On the basis of what is contained in the latest CF emails, highly-paid lawyers could no doubt find a way to dismiss the conversation as benign chit-chat. Although, if the Tuesday call referred to still exists in audio format it could reveal more about the concept of ‘comparing notes’. By way of a refresher, I suppose that this is the SOS ‘Better story’ interview that ‘Mr Fraser’ is referring to. I remember reading that at the time and feeling a certain sympathy for Whyte. Back then, the other aspects of the story were totally unknown to me. And if I had relied solely on the media since I would still be none the wiser as to what was going on.

    http://www.scotsman.com/scotland-on-sunday/sport/football/interview-craig-whyte-chairman-of-rangers-fc-1-2098205

    Some rather candid stuff in it, seen with the benefit of hindsight. There was a plan in place …

    “Q: The magnitude of the problem. Ally spoke on Friday about the club’s “serious, serious predicament” with HMRC and about how “the welfare of the club is the most important thing – greater than getting results”. That’s a fairly profound statement…

    A: Yeah, I agree with him. This has the potential to be the toughest few weeks in the club’s history.

    Q: You’re expecting a verdict from HMRC in the next few weeks?

    A: Possibly.

    Q: So you’re in full-on crisis mode?

    A: I wouldn’t say crisis is the right word. Not at the moment. But we’re certainly in the toughest time in the club’s history. The next few weeks. I’d definitely say that much.

    Q: Ally has said that he doesn’t know what your battle plan is in the event of the HMRC verdict going against the club. Why not tell him?

    A: Well, you know I play my cards close to my chest. Ally and I work closely together and if that situation arises he’ll be the first to know about it. We’re talking about hypotheticals here.

    Q: Are you nervous about it?

    A: Not nervous at all. There’s a plan in place for any eventuality.

    Q: I’ll try again. What’s the plan?

    A: I couldn’t go into it. If I publicised it then it would potentially jeopardise what we’re working on. But, remember, I bought the club with this thing hanging over it. I’ve been thinking about it since day one. The long-term interests of the club is what I think about every day.

    Q: There is also talk, on top of everything else, of £5m owed in VAT. Are you sitting on a Mount Everest of debt?”


  10. I wonder if James Easdale will be expecting a generous discount on any future bus orders from Alexander Dennis Ltd now that he has joined the board at Rangers

    http://www.heraldscotland.com/business/company-news/bus-firm-alexander-dennis-eyes-strong-performance.21480810

    http://www.alexander-dennis.com/news/twenty-enviro200s-for-mcgills-fleet/

    Alexander Dennis was saved from administration in 2004 by a consortium including Stagecoach co-founders Sir Brian Souter and Ann Gloag, Sir Angus Grossart’s Edinburgh-based Noble Grossart merchant bank, and metals-to-property entrepreneur Sir David Murray. The company refinanced its core UK bank facilities recently.

    David Douglas Murray his son is a current director of the company.


  11. Auldheid says:
    July 14, 2013 at 1:19 am

    However the question is how best to use it to maximum effect outside the internet.
    ==================================================
    Is it actually possible to get any effect from this apart from on here and other online forums? I have my severe doubts.


  12. iamacant says:
    July 13, 2013 at 10:25 pm

    Sir David advises Martin Bain, Independent Committee, to get this over the line. Grier and the Bank know the score.

    http://www.scribd.com/doc/153624031/Double-Agents

    CF ramping it up
    ——————————————————————————————————————————————-
    Hadn’t noticed on my first reading that, in his email to David Greir, Mike McGill describes the email from David Fraser as a “note from Sir David to Martin Bain”. That will be Sir David Fraser, presumably. Nailed!! Well spotted iamacant.


  13. upthehoops says:

    July 14, 2013 at 9:04 am

    0

    0

    Rate This

    Auldheid says:
    July 14, 2013 at 1:19 am

    However the question is how best to use it to maximum effect outside the internet.
    ==================================================
    Is it actually possible to get any effect from this apart from on here and other online forums? I have my severe doubts.
    ————————————————-
    It is not going to be easy but heid doon keep gaun.


  14. Re ‘David Fraser’ –

    Could be wrong but I’m reading;

    3 Cities = 3 Investors
    15000 miles = 15 million
    10 days = Monies available in 10 days & start Administration in 10 days
    Compare notes = Pound notes and/or Loan Notes

    Also,
    ‘what pittance do ‘we’ now get for that game?’


  15. Sam @ 10:52
    I take it that post is a wind-up, isn´t it ?


  16. greenockjack says:
    July 14, 2013 at 11:14 am

    “I take it that post is a wind-up, isn´t it ?”
    ———————————
    I understand your scepticism Jack. Why would Sir David Fraser (of MIH), husband of Kae, be talking in code? 😆


  17. So one week before RFC PLC went into administration, Sir Minty was flogging wine in Singapore, then stopped off in his way back in Dubai.
    Heck of a coincidence that, eh?


  18. Formation Group
    CEO
    C. A. Green Non-Executive Chairman (resigned 22 February 2012)

    Paul Stretford is an English football agent. In 1987 he founded Proactive Sports Management, renamed Formation Group in 2004.

    Formation in the deals that brought Hugo Viana to Newcastle United for around €12 million in 2002, Nuno Capucho to Glasgow Rangers in 2003.

    The list of the company’s shareholders was later described as “a Who’s Who of the footballing fraternity”, and included the managers and former players Bobby Robson, Kenny Dalglish, Kevin Keegan, Graeme Souness and Peter Reid.

    Formation Group Stockbrokers Manchester based W H Ireland.

    Banned stockbroker Pritchard sells client list
    Last updated: 29th Feb 2012 at 09:48am

    Bournemouth-based Pritchard Stockbrokers has sold a “substantial part” of its client list after being banned from trading by the financial regulator earlier this month. Its former company secretary is ex-Glasgow Rangers chairman Craig Whyte, who stepped down from the role last week.

    Manchester-based WH Ireland has acquired certain assets from Pritchard Stockbrokers and its wholly-owned subsidiary Prism Nominees for £500,000 plus VAT.

    The acquired assets include about 8,000 active private clients and the non-cash assets under management relating to those clients, valued at approximately £400m.

    WH Ireland has paid £250,000 in cash on completion, with a further £250,000 in cash to be paid subject to the acquired assets being transferred to the business within an agreed timeframe.

    On 10 February 2012, the Financial Services Authority ruled that Pritchard Stockbrokers had used client money for its own expenses, “thereby putting client money at risk”.

    It issued supervisory notice that said that the firm should cease any regulated activities, except to close out transactions which had already been started.

    The regulator also froze Pritchard’s assets and instructed it to tell all its clients that it had been barred for working for them. Pritchard has a right to appeal against the ruling.

    However, WH Ireland said would “be in a position to undertake regulated activities for those of [Pritchard Stockbrokers] clients that have transferred”.

    Paul Compton, WH Ireland’s chief executive, said: “The transaction increases our regionally based private client business and moves our nominee funds total forward. It provides an immediate resolution to what had become a worrisome situation for PSL clients.

    “We welcome them to WH Ireland and look forward to meeting their financial needs. We fully expect this transaction to be earnings enhancing in the first full year following completion.”

    Whyte is company secretary at Pritchard Stockbrokers and his main investment vehicle, Liberty Capital, invested £250,000 in the company.


  19. Alticry says:
    July 14, 2013 at 11:40 am
    —————————————–
    Cheers
    😆


  20. And to think….way back in the early days of RTC…I predicted..and it would appear I have been proven correct…David Murray was and is the central orchastrating character in this….RTC was firmly of the belief he was glad to be shot of the club and couldn’t run far enough away…I disagreed and suggested that the info available at that time all pointed to David Murray still running the show through associated individuals..

    It is no coincidence the SMSM have avoided dragging David Murray into this national scandal.


  21. CoT
    Why make a paper trail when a simple phonecall would suffice ?
    Or does PMGB have contacts in the NSA ?

    I thought Newtz presented an interesting post the other day (Fri @ 09:34 IIRC) but this theory of Sam´s is a wee bit ‘wild’.

    Newtz
    Are you in a position to give us an update on spiv´s currently involved and their connection´s with others as yet ? Blog post tomorrow or Tuesday ?


  22. tomames2013 says:
    July 14, 2013 at 1:58 am
    ——————————-
    ecobhoy says:
    July 13, 2013 at 11:57 pm
    ———————————–

    This would help explain one big conumdrum for me …. my maps showing links & associations natuarally divide into two camps and only merge on and after the introduction of CG to D&P

    The maps are complicated and detailed …. yet only connect at the point mentioned …. very strange !

    If I was asked to make an assessment based on this …. I would say that … on the balance of probability … there was no Prior link between the two ……

    The SDM link would change the landscape ….. (and my maps)

    If it transpires that SDM actually provided the introduction of Rizvi et al to find the funding/investors …..
    & …
    That long standing strong family friendship allowed CW to be …… ‘The Chosen One’ !!! ….. and has been (for want of a better term), Mentored along the way ……..

    What A Story …………… WOW !

    Did someone mention ….. #SmokingGun


  23. Newtz
    How about presenting the map that pertains to post intro of CG to DP ?
    This is current and may have relevance wrt on-going fluid situation.


  24. When Rangers FC 1872 went into liquidation it seemed to be a total surprise to the majority of people in Scotland. At that time there were many,many warning to the ordinary fans but because these warnings were not substantiated in the SMSM and coupled with the fact that the warnings came from a ‘Celtic’ source (P.McG) they were deemed to be simply malicious gossip. OOOOOPS. See how that panned out. Even with the benefit of hindsight it seems that the Ibrox problems have all just been mischief making by ‘haters’ and ‘obsessed timmys’ Nothing happened. Nothing at all. Everything is just fine on the new journey. The reasons that there has to be a new journey at all is of no consequence. Now it seems to me that something similar, no not similar, exactly the same is about to be foisted upon the fans and management of the New Club. The same fans and management that refused to see the warning lights flashing when the Old club went to the wall. The arrogance certainly TUPE’d over. Still talking £Millions, Still going to win every competition in the land. Need to have the biggest squad in Scotland, maybe even Britain. If there is not someone in the background pumping lots of cash into the veins of the new club then SURPRISE,SURPRISE, Its gonna happen again. And soon. But they will not see it coming. They refuse to see it coming. After all Administration and Liquidation never happened.Did It?


  25. The Whyte fakeover was planned from 2009 when he was introduced to Jack Irvine with a view to preparing the Media-Control strategy that would allow this shyster to be presented as a billionaire with wealth off the radar.
    From Day 1 Whyte was the Lee Harvey Oswald of this story: a self-deluded patsy.
    In the absence of any interest from the Scottish MSM (our very own Warren Commission), it is up to us to shine a light on what really went on in Scottish football’s biggest-ever scandal.
    The gun is beginning to smoke . . .


  26. In October 2006, PR Week reported Pritchard Stockbrokers had hired PR firm MediaHouse to “argue its innocence to the press” over its alleged links to Michael Brown.

    KSC Broking was Pritchard’s parent company until April 2008, when Craig Whyte bought a stake in Pritchard via a company called Cairnwell Investments.

    Cairnwell is owned through shares held by his British Virgin Island’s-based company, Liberty Capital.

    In October 2008, Sinclair’s KSC Broking sold a controlling stake in Pritchard to its remaining directors, David Gillespie and David Welsby.

    Sinclair had resigned from the Pritchard board in September 2008 though his other broking firm, KSC, still held 550,000 of 1.75 million of Pritchard’s issued shares.

    By 2010, the number of issued shares in Pritchard rose to 1.83 million – KSC Broking held 550,000 and Whyte’s Cairnwell Investments 173,250.

    When Whyte first bought into Pritchard in 2008, the firm appeared to be in a dire financial state.

    After extending its reporting period by three months, Pritchard filed its 2008 accounts more than a year late – August 2009 – only after Companies House had moved to strike the firm off.

    The full year results, when finally published, revealed a loss of £296,789.

    Pritchard’s recent accounts show £500,000 in lifeline loans were received between September 2008 and August 2009 from companies linked to Craig Whyte.

    Whyte’s Liberty Capital first provided Pritchard with an unsecured £250,000 loan in 2008 as it struggled to stay afloat.

    Pritchard then went on to report losses of £506,171 for the 2009 year, and another £250,000 unsecured loan was provided, this time by Merchant House Securities Ltd, listed in Pritchard’s accounts as a connected company of Whyte’s Cairnwell Investments.

    Another company linked to Whyte’s offshore-based Liberty Capital – Liberty Corporate Ltd – was listed as Cairnwell’s company secretary when it launched in May 2009.

    Whyte then joined the Cairnwell board in July 2009.

    Craig Whyte’s father, Thomas Whyte, has been a director of Liberty Corporate since that company was launched in May, 2006.

    Liberty Corporate recently filed notice with Companies House it had taken control of the floating charge held over the value of Rangers Football Club’s assets.

    The debenture document secures the charge over Rangers FC Group, the ultimate parent company of the Ibrox club.


  27. Feb. 17 (Bloomberg) — Britain’s financial regulator censured a London stockbroker, Wills & Co, saying it failed to ensure that customers understood the risks of the shares the firm was selling.

    Wills & Co will no longer be able to give investment advice and would have been fined 1.5 million pounds ($2.4 million) had it not been winding down its business, the Financial Services Authority said today in a statement. Two of its directors won’t be able to hold management positions for as long as five years, the FSA said. The stockbroker failed to improve sales practices after a 2007 FSA fine of 49,000 pounds, the regulator said.

    Gary Withey, a London-based lawyer for Wills & Co at Collyer Bristow LLP, didn’t immediately return a call seeking comment. Calls to the office of Wills & Co, which was founded in 1883, weren’t answered.


  28. greenockjack says:

    July 14, 2013 at 12:43 pm
    ———————————-
    working on it …. lots of data to merge so will update when ready


  29. In the weeks before Pritchard was banned from trading, its brokers were said to be advising clients to convert their shareholdings to cash – some for six figure sums – the bulk of which is now “missing”.

    A number of Pritchard’s clients were inherited in 2010 from the failure of another stockbroking firm which fell foul of the FSA, Wills & Co.

    Collyer Bristow’s Gary Withey, acted for Wills & Co in Pritchard’s 2010 buyout of that firm’s client business.

    One of Pritchard Stockbrokers creditors is Craig Whyte, said to be owed £173,000 for his shareholding in the firm.

    After Pritchard was put into administration, its clients were moved over to a new firm, WH Ireland.

    Many are said to be unhappy with the arrangement as some Pritchard brokers were also transferred over to WH Ireland.


  30. The Murray/Whyte links . See this from celticfcblog on 2dec 2011:

    “GM Mining, a joint venture between Sir Minty Moonbeams and the feuding Gillespie brothers.
    Just a few streets away were the registered addresses of several of Craig Whyte’s firms.
    These guys moved in the same circles. Mining firms need plant hire. Wee Craigie and his dad supplied it.
    In 1999, GM Mining were rumoured to be launching a takeover of Waverley Mining.
    Instead a little-known company, Corporate Resolve (effectively controlled by Craig Whyte) launched a bid that failed dismally.
    Waverley Mining Finance then became Palmaris. And their first purchase? Custom Services Group, owned by wee Craigie’s dad Tom.
    Mind you, that ended in acrimony when, two years later, Palmaris attempted to sue Tom Whyte for effectively selling them a “pup”.”

    I’m still working on Rizvi. Could someone have a look at the shareholders of Ferro Mongolia Resources Plc on Deudil and see if any of them ring any bells. ta.


  31. Sam says:
    July 14, 2013 at 2:15 pm
    0 0 i Rate This
    —————————————
    Selfassessor says:
    July 14, 2013 at 2:25 am

    In the name of the wee man, what was all this aboot?

    http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/scottish-news/revealed-bust-tycoon-graham-gillespie-1912885
    ———————————————————————————————————————————-
    In the above report, why did Mr Souness say the following?

    “I think it was said in the court case that that was on the advice of our accountants and our lawyers.
    “That’s all I can say – it was done on the advice of very expensive lawyers and very expensive accountants.”

    Note, he said OUR ACCOUNTANTS AND OUR LAWYERS”

    Why did he not say “HIS ACCOUNTANTS AND HIS LAWYERS” when he denied any wrongdoing?


  32. Ferro Mongolia Resources Plc

    Enrique Lopez de Mesa (aged 48) – Non Executive Director

    Enrique is a senior finance professional with significant capital market experience.
    He has been active with such groups as Nova Resources, Ferro Mongolia Limited,

    Sino Vanadium Inc, Alpaca
    Resources Inc. (a Peruvian mining exploration company), and Southern Oregon Gold Corp.; in
    addition he has served as director/officer of TSX-V, NASDAQ, AIM and ISDX Growth Market listed
    companies. Previously he was a Canadian Vice-President for the leading mid-market financial
    services company in Hong Kong.

    His investment banking and corporate finance experience includes
    PWC Securities and Barclays PLC’s investment bank includes debt and equity issues, M&A, and
    valuations in a variety of sectors, completing several dozen financing transactions


  33. Sam says:
    July 14, 2013 at 2:44 pm
    ======================
    Ferro Mongolia Resources Plc
    Among the Shareholders:
    Jersey Hills Holdings (Rivzi)
    Norne Ansalt
    Mr Christopher Andrew Morgan
    Mazen Nabil Houssami
    Director:
    Mr Fook Meng Chan

    Some more jack Irvine/Whyte stuff
    Wills. Arc. Keydata.
    Troubled little nest of financial cast-off clients that have ended up being taken on by wee Craigie Whyte and his pals.
    The Keydata stuff is interesting.
    A company caught up in allegations of a massive fraud.
    Boss was a Scot called Stewart Ford with bases in Switzerland and the British Virgin Isles.
    His very aggressive PR defendant is Jack Irvine of Media House.


  34. Ferro Mongolia

    Chris Morgan & Fook Meng …

    Stockbridge is very isolated ….. Is this why Cenkos had to go Brian ?

    Q. … What influence did Octopus assert in the decision to remove Cenkos … ?

    Attempts to get Morgan onto BlueRoom Board already holed below waterline …. continuing links continue to destabilise future attempts

    #EpicFail

    For the avoidance of doubt
    http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=news&code=cotn:NOVA.L&action=article&articleid=8583918


  35. FSA Must Destroy E-Mails It Used in Keydata Probe, Judge Rules
    By Kit Chellel – Apr 18, 2012 6:04 PM GMT+0700

    The Financial Services Authority must destroy privileged attorney-client e-mails it obtained during its investigation into collapsed investment firm Keydata Investment Services Ltd., a London judge said.

    The privileged documents must be deleted or destroyed, and all references to them redacted, Judge Ian Burnett said today. Keydata and its founder Stewart Ford won a ruling in October that the regulator shouldn’t have used the e-mails.

    The judge refused requests by Ford’s lawyers to have the FSA’s 2010 warning notice thrown out, and for any investigator who had seen the protected e-mails to be removed from its probe.

    “I do not consider that the fact that the investigators and in-house lawyers have seen material which cannot now be used,” creates prejudice against the Ford, Burnett said.

    The FSA had to suspend its four-year investigation into Keydata because of a judicial review into its conduct. Keydata administered 2.8 billion pounds ($4.42 billion) of assets when the FSA asked a court to place it into administration in 2009.

    The regulator was examining whether Keydata targeted investors with potentially misleading advertisements, and potential tax irregularities.


  36. Ill-judged
    Jack Irvine Spokesman for Stewart Ford

    Jack Irvine, a representative for Keydata’s boss Stewart Ford, says that in April last year, the firm had “substantial” amounts of cash.

    Lifemark has some $1.5bn face value worth of life settlement policies to its name which will eventually mature”

    But it started “eating into its short-term cash reserves” to snap up more cheap, second-hand, life insurance polices in the USA, he said.

    Just as it was about to raise more cash from investors, and keep the whole show on the road, the FSA closed down Keydata, with similar action taken by Lifemark’s regulator in Luxembourg.

    “Therefore Lifemark’s current liquidity problems are the direct result of the ill-judged intervention of the regulators who failed to understand how this asset class work,” says Mr Irvine.

    He says Lifemark is not a “Ponzi” scheme, adding Lifemark has life settlement policies with a face worth of some $1.5bn to its name, which will eventually mature.

    “All bond holders would have continued to receive the payments to which they were entitled on time as promised,” Mr Irvine adds.


  37. Jack Irvine

    Jun 07, 2010 at 13:46

    Briefing note to media and interested parties

    (Issued on behalf of Mr Stewart Ford)

    Re: Lifemark/Keydata

    Monday,June 7, 2010: The Swiss-based founder of Keydata, Mr Stewart Ford, has appointed a multi-disciplinary investigation team to examine the circumstances surrounding the administration of his company on June 8, 2009.

    The strategic partners involved in the investigation will be:-

    1. Media House International, a City-based Crisis Management and Political Affairs specialist led by a former News International editor and MD, Jack Irvine. Irvine worked on the Cash for Honours case involving biotech entrepreneur Sir Christopher Evans, the MG Rover Inquiry and most recently devised the successful media strategy for the team opposing the £400million Uralchem placement on the LSE. He is also political and media adviser to Cayman Finance.

    2. Aegis Tax LLP, a City-based tax investigation specialist led by Chris Chipperton. Chipperton had a 22-year career with HMRC including 15 years with their investigation division. He has handled major cases including tax evasion, money laundering and drug trafficking. He was UK liaison officer in the Middle East from 1993-98. Chipperton also worked with KPMG and Ernst & Young.

    Irvine and Chipperton’s brief is to examine the following puzzling aspects of the Keydata/Lifemark affair.

    1. Why the FSA took precipitate action to put Keydata into administration when a mutually agreeable tax solution could have been negotiated with HMRC.

    2. Why HMRC was led in a certain direction by the FSA when a routine solution to correct the tax/ISA compliance position was easily possible. Did the lack of a tax settlement prompt the FSA to “manufacture” a tax liability thus imposing administrators on an otherwise solvent business.

    3. Who appointed PwC as administrators and allowed their costs to spiral alarmingly? There appears to be a feeding frenzy on their fees- what have they achieved ?

    4. Do PwC have a conflict as administrators to Keydata and auditors to SLS in Luxembourg? In whose best interests are PwC acting?

    5. PwC had concerns over £103m. of investors’ money yet Keydata Investment Services had over £2.5 billion under its control. Was the PwC action proportionate?

    6. Why HMRC lost control of the case.

    7. The thought processes behind FSA’s aggressive action when they must have realised that their actions would disadvantage thousands of policyholders.

    8. What exactly the FSA are doing to determine the whereabouts and size of the deceased fraudster David Elias’s estate.

    All inquiries relating to the Media House/Aegis investigation should be addressed to the following:-

    Jack Irvine.

    http://www.mediahouse.co.uk

    jack@mediahouse.co.uk

    Chris Chipperton

    http://www.aegistaxllp.co.uk

    chris.chipperton@aegistaxllp.co.uk

    [Phone numbers removed]


  38. Sam says:
    July 14, 2013 at 2:44 pm
    TallBoy Poppy (@TallBoyPoppy) says:
    July 14, 2013 at 3:00 pm
    newtz says:
    July 14, 2013 at 3:12 pm

    http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/2012/10/22/the-rangers-shareholder-list/comment-page-1/#comments

    The above is a list of Rangers shareholders I did on 22/10/2012 – Tallboy Poppy you’ll remember it. Well worth reading the comments that go with the posts as there are lots of little gems from various posters there.

    When I got the info I was told there were an additional five investors whose names were secret and not being released.

    Norne Anstalt also features in the Rangers list with 1.2M shares – it’s mentioned in the comments but I reckon it’s a Lichenstein trust.

    The Establishment, or Anstalt, is a corporate form that is peculiar to Liechtenstein. It has no members or shareholders. It is an autonomous fund with beneficiaries. It is often used as a holding company for patents or royalties, or for estate assets. It has a founder or founders, who are not necessarily the same as the beneficiaries; the founders’ rights can be transferred, if the capital is not divided into shares, giving the current tenants of the founders’ rights considerable powers over the Establishment. In this respect, the Establishment is similar to the Foundation.

    Margarita Funds Holding Trust has 2.6M shares and appears to be based in the Turks & Caicos Islands – I don’t suppose Media House would help us out with their specialist knowledge of the islands. But it would be good to find out who they are as they appear to have surfaced late in the day.


  39. newtz says:

    July 14, 2013 at 3:12 pm For the avoidance of doubt
    http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=news&code=cotn:NOVA.L&action=article&articleid=8583918

    ============================================================
    I’m sure you won’t have missed it but did you note who the Nomad for Nova was?

    Daniel Stewart & Company Plc (Nominated Adviser & Broker)

    I think if their appointment had actually gone ahead then that might have set a few tongues wagging and conspiracy theories as well 😆


  40. ecobhoy says:
    July 14, 2013 at 3:51 pm
    —————————————–
    i remember the link between Norne Anstalt and the three ex Close Leasing directors via Turquoise Capital. I don’t think we ever got anything on Margarita Funds Holding Trust. Or did we?


  41. ecobhoy says:

    July 14, 2013 at 4:05 pm
    ———————————
    Yep I highligthted thatt in post and preceding posts that caused PMG to have kittens
    Timing of post (IMO) on Sun past was critical as no announcement on Mon as expected by Phil’s sources, and the then bombshell announce on Tues showing that they were side stepped (too toxic ?) even though Phil’s sources say signed up on the Fri …….. Big Story here (as Phil reminded SMSM)


  42. Worth noting, in his list of past directorships, Chris Morgan’s links to the Abela clan (airline catering and, previously, cigarette smuggling in Lebanon, with links to Malta and Monaco).
    That’s where the names Haddad and Moussami came from in the original list of investors.
    Pieces are staring to fall into place now, aren’t they?


  43. Sam says:
    July 14, 2013 at 3:34 pm
    ———————————————————————————————————————————————–
    I don’t want to blow the thread off course but a Stewart Owen Ford and a Scot William Gardiner were in business together (Inclination 1 LLP & Inclination 2 LLP) “Yacht charter.” 🙂 I’m sure all this has been done so I’ll leave it to Dundee fans to tell the tale.


  44. nickmcguinness says:
    July 14, 2013 at 11:39 am
    12 0 Rate This

    So one week before RFC PLC went into administration, Sir Minty was flogging wine in Singapore, then stopped off in his way back in Dubai.
    Heck of a coincidence that, eh?
    ——————

    Hey Mick, catching up after a day out. I must have missed the names of those cities SDM visited over the 15,000 miles, where does the info come from that he was in Singapore?


  45. I really appreciate the excellent investigative work being done by some posters but…
    other than showing linkage what’s it proving?…
    or am I missing something here?


  46. Danish Pastry says:
    July 14, 2013 at 7:02 pm
    where does the info come from that he was in Singapore?
    ———————————————————————-
    http://www.chateauroutas.com/blog/?p=450

    I’m sure the DR ran a piece at the time as well.


  47. jw hardin says:
    July 14, 2013 at 7:07 pm
    ————————————————————————————————————————————————
    I don’t know about anybody else but I’m treating it as a giant jigsaw puzzle. The more pieces we have the better the picture. Or we could wait for Murray’s Media Hoose monkeys to tell us the full story.


  48. jw hardin says:
    July 14, 2013 at 7:07 pm

    I really appreciate the excellent investigative work being done by some posters but…other than showing linkage what’s it proving?…or am I missing something here?
    =====================================================================
    Often the most difficult thing to do when facing a puzzle where people have good reason to hide the truth is to actually start to link potential conspirators to each other and to dates and locations.

    I, like many other posters, have been convinced for at least a couple of years that villainy has been afoot and I find it instructional for myself to look back at some of my original theories where I had to make leaps of faith to jump over all the missing bits of the puzzle.

    However as times has elapsed many of these missing bits have been discovered and fit into the overall picture. But what’s more important is that we now actually know what a lot of the missing bits actually are so it makes it easier to narrow down the search.

    But the remaining missing bits are the most secret ones and very dangerous to those who have been acting outwith what normal people would regard as acceptable behaviour and professionalism.

    So the search continues but even though we have a good idea of what the missing bits will be we have to retain an open mind in our search and so often a seemingly unrelated fact can actually lead to an important find when another poster sees it and it ties into something they have been working on.

    Not an easy job and no quick solutions but we are getting there together and showing how useless and cowardly the SMSM is.


  49. newtz says:
    July 11, 2013 at 9:34 am
    +++++++++++++++++++++++

    Just got back from holiday and came across this post . MAGNIFICENT piece of work.


  50. TallBoy Poppy (@TallBoyPoppy) says:
    July 14, 2013 at 7:27 pm
    ===============================================

    Ah yes the 3 monkeys – speak no truth, hear no truth and see no truth 😆


  51. Danish Pastry says:
    July 14, 2013 at 7:02 pm

    2

    0

    Rate This

    nickmcguinness says:
    July 14, 2013 at 11:39 am
    12 0 Rate This

    So one week before RFC PLC went into administration, Sir Minty was flogging wine in Singapore, then stopped off in his way back in Dubai.
    Heck of a coincidence that, eh?
    ——————

    Hey Mick, catching up after a day out. I must have missed the names of those cities SDM visited over the 15,000 miles, where does the info come from that he was in Singapore?
    ++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    Don’t vinyard owners have agents who promote their wares around the world?

    Why was this owner jetting off around the globe on a low value personal trip when his International “Empire” was crumbling?


  52. newtz says:
    July 14, 2013 at 3:12 pm

    http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=news&code=cotn:NOVA.L&action=article&articleid=8583918
    —————————–
    A couple of stupid questions if you’d endulge me.

    1. Fook-Meng Chang – who is he?

    I know there’s a link with Rivzi. Can this be explained in one sentence?

    2. Daniel Stewart & Co. Ltd – Nominated advisors and brokers : David Hart/James Felix.

    Is this ‘Hart’ the same one that’s just been appointed to the Ranger’s board.


  53. Is the wine thing not part of his personal wealth, rather than MIH.


  54. Gaz says:
    July 14, 2013 at 7:51 pm
    ————-

    The wine is a red or if you prefer rose herring.


  55. Drew Peacock says:
    July 14, 2013 at 7:46 pm
    Why was this owner jetting off around the globe on a low value personal trip when his International “Empire” was crumbling?
    ================================================================
    And finding time to email CW to tell him the trip was ‘worthwhile’ – I’m sure CW would have been ecstatic to know a lot of wine had been sold a week before the club went into admin. And to make arrangements to ‘compare’ notes two days later back in the UK – were they really going to work out how many cases of wine had been sold?

    Somehow I think the ‘note comparing’ might have been on another subject and at some stage we might find out exactly what was discussed when CF produces the audio.

    But it truly was a high-powered sales mission – the man himself and his two sons all in Singapore flanked by their Japanese and Indonesian sales teams. Sounds as though there’s more money in plonk these days than steel 😆


  56. Gaz says:
    July 14, 2013 at 7:51 pm

    Is the wine thing not part of his personal wealth, rather than MIH.
    +++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

    In my opinion it is probably a bit difficult to call based on past evidence of the confusion around the development of a Villa in the South of France and the EBT comings and goings. Clearly Sir David Fraser does have an eye for personal profit outwith the MIH/Rangers Institutional/Corporate set up. Bain”yyyy was good at that too. So it is alledged. And the bloke with the perm and moustache.


  57. tomames2013 says:
    July 14, 2013 at 7:57 pm

    Poisson Rosé, Shirley.


  58. Thanks Tallboy & ecobhoy. It’s difficult to know what to make of that. Stunning coincidence certainly that he passes through two of the places that appear to have been central to the CG finance trail about the same time as the first step was being taken towards inevitable liquidation. On the other hand, maybe he just wanted to be nowhere near the unfolding events, especially if he had the inside track on what was actually going on? He may have explained what ‘Worthwhile’ meant during the follow-up call. Now if that call was recorded, what an interesting listen it might be 😉


  59. As complicated as the whole SDM, CW, CG linkages are, posters on here are doing the equivalent of building a cigar from the smoke. And it’s a bit, fat, smelly one!


  60. Has anybody thought about the consequences for the Principal parties.They are probably extreme ,one can only wish they thought the prize worthy .It truly amazes myself that the authorities have not called a halt to this fiasco.


  61. Castofthousands says:
    July 14, 2013 at 7:49 pm
    2 0 Rate This

    newtz says:
    July 14, 2013 at 3:12 pm

    http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=news&code=cotn:NOVA.L&action=article&articleid=8583918
    —————————–
    A couple of stupid questions if you’d endulge me.

    1. Fook-Meng Chang – who is he?

    I know there’s a link with Rivzi. Can this be explained in one sentence?

    2. Daniel Stewart & Co. Ltd – Nominated advisors and brokers : David Hart/James Felix.

    Is this ‘Hart’ the same one that’s just been appointed to the Ranger’s board.
    ———-

    A ‘Chan Fook Meng’ came up some time ago in relation to the Orlit story.

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-glasgow-west-21370477

    http://scotslawthoughts.wordpress.com/tag/chan-fook-meng/


  62. Danish Pastry says:
    July 14, 2013 at 9:22 pm

    http://www.iii.co.uk/investment/detail/?display=news&code=cotn:NOVA.L&action=article&articleid=8583918
    —————————–
    A couple of stupid questions if you’d endulge me.

    1. Fook-Meng Chang – who is he?

    I know there’s a link with Rivzi. Can this be explained in one sentence?
    ———-

    A ‘Chan Fook Meng’ came up some time ago in relation to the Orlit story.
    ____________________________________________________________________

    The percentage men need to be paid.

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