This Swiss born son of a printer has spent over £85 million buying up properties in the Henley-on-Thames area of Oxfordshire. Schwarzenbach also owns 123,000 acres in Australia, 26,000 acres in Scotland and has his own polo team, the Black Bears. This financier’s foreign exchange dealership, Interexchange, is the biggest in Switzerland and betting against the dollar has brought much success. He supposedly even named his Gulfstream G650 “George” as “ultimately it was Bush who paid for it.” Whilst Schwarzenbach’s Grand Hotel Dolder in Zurich wins plaudits galore. an investment in Mayfair’s Café Grand Prix was less successful. It is, however, for philanthropy and discretion that Schwarzenbach and his wife, a former Miss Australia, are known best.
Tag: bank
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Urs Schwarzenbach
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Andrey Borodin
This billionaire former president of the Bank of Moscow lives in exile in London and is on the Interpol Red Notices wanted list as a suspect in a £136 million (13 billion rouble) fraud. (more…) -
Keeping bankers out of the kitchen
The Steeple Times features in The Sunday Telegraph
Yesterday, we received our first mainstream press mention with a feature in The Sunday Telegraph’s “Dashwood” column.
The Sunday Telegraph’s “Dashwood” features The Steeple Times 
Anna White’s article Anna White picked up on a comment on Gina Miller’s open letter to our title from the chef and personality Antony Worrall Thompson and since we’ve also received similar messages from fellow restaurateurs Peter Burrell, Rex Leyland and Michael Proudlock.
Plainly restaurateurs have more to say about the banking scandal than the bankers themselves. I salute them, Gina Miller and The Sunday Telegraph.
Read Gina Miller’s open letter at: http://thesteepletimes.com/the-fog/an-open-letter-from-gina-miller/
Read the article at: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/comment/citydiary/9417357/Dashwood-Celebrity-chef-gives-food-for-thought.html
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Nell Diamond
This American makes Nell Gwynn seem positively tame. The daughter of the ex-chief of Barclay’s bank, Bob, doesn’t like being confused with the singer Neil Diamond but does enjoy discussing sex on Twitter. When she’s not hanging with Lauren Bush Lauren, this cool is kid is either shopping on the Kings Road or raising funds for UNICEF. -
Diamonds Aren't Forever
The resignation of Bob Diamond
Today, Bob Diamond finally bit the dust and resigned as chief executive of Barclays in a dramatic move designed to save the bank from further embarrassment in the wake of their having being fined a record £290 million last week for attempting to manipulate the interbank lending rate, Libor, between 2005 and 2009.
Bob Diamond, centre, with John Varley and Marcus Agius Of his decision, Diamond commented:
“No decision over that period was as hard as the one that I make now to stand down as chief executive. The external pressure placed on Barclays has reached a level that risks damaging the franchise – I cannot let that happen.”
Meanwhile, George Osborne MP added:
“We now have an opportunity to fix what went wrong and move on.”
The Chancellor’s attempts to sweep this scandal under the carpet illustrate how out of touch he is with public opinion on this subject and Gina Miller, founder of the True and Fair campaign, raises a far more valid point in her statement on the affair:
“Bob Diamond’s departure and the Libor scandal shows lack of oversight, accountability and regulation in the City. Current industry self-regulation, overseen by the FSA, has been widely abused by the financial services industry and has failed to protect consumers or provide a level-playing field for the more responsible financial services companies.”
With an inquiry looming next into professional standards in banking, one has to wonder which other heads will roll next. As someone said to me in a Facebook message this morning: “Give a man a gun, and he can rob a bank; Give a man a bank, and he can rob the world.”
For more information on the True and Fair campaign, go to: http://www.trueandfaircampaign.com
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Dmitry Rybolovlev
This billionaire businessman started out in medicine but soon moved into commerce realising that enterprise would better provide for his family. He was imprisoned on falsified charges of contract murder for 11 months in 1996. Subsequently cleared, Rybolovlev then went on to make his fortune in potassium and banking. This divorced father of two has used his fortune to fund the restoration of many of Russia’s churches and also bought Donald Trump’s former residence, The Masion de L’Amitie in Palm Beach, Florida, for $95 million in 2008. This risk taker also parted with another $88 million in December 2011 to purchase New York’s most expensive apartment for his 22-year old daughter. Rybololev’s passions are surfing and 19th and 20th century art.