Anglo Adriatic Investment Fund SA

The Anglo Adriatic Investment Fund SA was an investment fund set up to hold privatisation vouchers issued by the government of post-Communist Albania. It was unsuccessful in its attempts to reinvest them and collapsed.

Anglo Adriatic Investment Fund SA
Formation 1996?
Type Investment fund
Headquarters Hotel Rogner Europa Park, Blvd. Deshmoret e Kombit, Tirana, Albania.[1][2]
128 Mount Street, London, W1Y 5HA, United Kingdom[1]
Location
Official language
English, Albanian
Founder
 Declan Ganley[3][4]
Key people
 Liam Lawlor,[5] (consultant[6]) Kosta Trebicka,[7] Dan De Marino,[4] Gary Hunter[6]
Website n/a

Structure

The Anglo Adriatic Investment Fund SA[2] (AAIF) was established by Irish entrepreneur Declan Ganley.[8] AAIF was the first[8] foreign-managed investment fund in Albania, provisionally licensed on 13 April 1996[8] and definitively licensed on 22 May 1996.[9] AAIF collected privatisation vouchers[4][8] that the government of post-communist Albania was giving to Albanians, and it used the nominal value of those vouchers for investment in areas such as fertilizer,[8] breweries,[10] cement[10] and pharmaceuticals.[10] The Albanians who deposited their vouchers with AAIF received shares in the fund in return.[4]

Early success

At one point the fund had 450,000 shareholders and vouchers with a nominal value of more than $120 million.[4]

Collapse

But AAIF had collected too many vouchers: it had 12%[9] of all the vouchers and privatisation leks combined, more than the 10% maximum[9] prescribed by law.[nb 1] Following a lengthy period of negotiation and accusation between AAIF and the Albanian government,[9] AAIF was left unable to continue with the privatisation.[9] Even worse, the market value of the vouchers had dropped during the collapse of the Albanian economy from 25.6%[9] of their nominal value in January 1996[9] to 1.7%[9] in October 1998.[9] AAIF was bankrupt.[9]

Funding

AAIF was officially funded by Ganley International,[3][8][8] with a 10%[8] stake taken by the US-based Rothschild Emerging Markets Fund.[8] Der Spiegel stated[11] that AAIF's UK office (128 Mount Street, London, W1Y 5HA[1]) shared an address with the European branch of US investment fund Paladin Capital, and also stated[11] that Paladin Capital's advisory board was chaired by former CIA director James Woolsey. Ganley denies any involvement with the CIA.[12]

Notes

  1. ↑ Law No. 7979, entitled "On Investment Funds", dated 26.07.95, see for source

References

  1. 1 2 3 "Company Profile - Anglo-Adriatic Investment Fund", entry on PSEPS venture capital and private equity directory
  2. 1 2 Details for ANGLO ADRIATIC INVESTMENT FUND SA at ICPCredit.com
  3. 1 2 "Irish anti-EU party to set up in Austria for June elections" Austrian Times, 19 February 2009
  4. 1 2 3 4 5 "On the mysterious trail of 'Mr No'", Irish Times, 31 May 2008
  5. ↑ "ALBANIAN FOREIGN MINISTER RECEIVES GANLEY AND LAWLOR", Albanian Telegraphic Agency, 11 September 1996
  6. 1 2 "Flood Tribunal" Friday 28 September 2007
  7. ↑ "Complaint made by: Mr. Rory Fitzgerald BCC Ref. No. 437/08" from www.bcc.ie
  8. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Albania 1999 Country Profile" Business Forum Report, London 17–20 April 1999, from Southeast Europe Online
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 "MASS PRIVATISATION PROCESS AND POST PRIVATISATION IN ALBANIA" by FATMIR MEMA, University of Tirana, Faculty of Economics, Albania and NEVRUZ KOÇI Albanian State Insurance Company (INSIG), Albania, a paper given in the 1–3 June 2001 SEED Conference "Restructuring, Stability and Development in Southeastern Europe."
  10. 1 2 3 "THE ECONOMIC DESTRUCTION OF ALBANIA" by Michel Chossudovsky, Ottawa, 1997 via www.blythe.org
  11. 1 2 "Wie ein Milliardär Europa aufschrecktv", Spiegel Online, 28 September 2008, English translation here
  12. ↑ "Facts not politics, learn the truth about Libertas ", Libertas press office, undated

See also

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