Softbank-Saudi tech fund becomes world's biggest with $93 billion of capital

RIYADH - The world's largest private equity fund, backed by Japan's Softbank Group and Saudi Arabia's main sovereign wealth fund, said on Saturday it had raised over $93 billion to invest in technology sectors such as artificial intelligence and robotics.

"The next stage of the Information Revolution is under way, and building the businesses that will make this possible will require unprecedented large-scale, long-term investment," the Softbank Vision Fund said in a statement.

Japanese billionaire Masayoshi Son, chairman of Softbank, a telecommunications and tech investment group, revealed plans for the fund last October and since then it has obtained commitments from some of the world's most deep-pocketed investors.

In addition to Softbank and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF), the new fund's investors include Abu Dhabi's Mubadala Investment, which has committed $15 billion, Apple Inc, Qualcomm, Taiwan's Foxconn Technology and Japan's Sharp Corp.

The new fund made its announcement during the visit of President Donald Trump to Riyadh and the signing of tens of billions of dollars worth of business deals between U.S. and Saudi companies. Son was also in Riyadh on Saturday.

After meeting with Trump last December, Son pledged $50 billion of investment in the United States that would create 50,000 jobs, a promise Trump claimed was a direct result of his election win.

The fund may also serve the interests of Saudi Arabia by helping Riyadh obtain access to foreign technology. The Saudi economy has been severely damaged by low oil prices, and policymakers are trying to diversify into new industries.

The PIF signaled an interest in the tech sector last year by investing $3.5 billion in U.S. ride-hailing firm Uber. Saturday's statement did not say how much the PIF had committed to the fund, but previously it has said it would invest up to $45 billion over five years. Softbank is investing $28 billion.

The new fund said it would seek to buy minority and majority interests in both private and public companies, from emerging businesses to established, multi-billion-dollar firms. It expects to obtain preferred access to long-term investment opportunities worth $100 million or more.

Other sectors in which the fund may invest include mobile computing, communications infrastructure, computational biology, consumer internet businesses and financial technology.

The fund aims for $100 billion of committed capital and expects to complete its money-raising in six months, it added.

(Reporting by Andrew Torchia; Editing by Dale Hudson)

source: news.abs-cbn.com

Standard Chartered probed in U.S. for Indonesia 'bribes'

Standard Chartered acknowledged Tuesday it was being investigated by the U.S. Department of Justice over claims that an Indonesian subsidiary had paid bribes to secure contracts.

The London-based, Asia-focused bank said in a statement that it had referred the matter to the "appropriate authorities" and launched its own review.

The Wall Street Journal newspaper said that an internal audit at Indonesian energy company Maxpower Group found evidence of possible bribery and US prosecutors were examining whether Standard Chartered was culpable for not stopping it.

"Standard Chartered takes very seriously allegations of impropriety in any of our private equity investments," the bank told AFP in a statement when asked about the report.

"We proactively referred this matter to the appropriate authorities and have conducted our own review.

"When we receive allegations of improper behaviour in an investee company, we pursue those allegations vigorously and act appropriately, including sharing information and cooperating fully with government authorities and addressing any issues of internal conduct and accountability."

The Department of Justice did not comment when contacted by AFP.

The Wall Street Journal said the Maxpower internal audit found that more than $750,000 in cash advances needed to be examined as possible bribes, while lawyers who reviewed the audit found indications that employees made inappropriate payments to Indonesian government officials between 2012 and 2015.

Standard Chartered began investing in Maxpower in 2012 and is the majority shareholder.

There was no immediate comment from Maxpower.

But a source close to the case told AFP the US authorities were indeed examining whether Standard Chartered, via its representatives on the Maxpower board, was aware of alleged bribes to win government contracts.

The investigation would also look at why the bank's alert procedures for spotting such matters had not been triggered.

But the probe will focus on whether Standard Chartered has violated the terms of its 2012 deferred prosecution agreements with the Department of Justice.

Standard Chartered paid $667 million in 2012 to settle charges it violated US sanctions by handling thousands of money transactions involving Iran, Myanmar, Libya and Sudan.

In August 2014, the bank was hit by US regulators with a $300 million fine and restrictions on its dollar-clearing business for failing to detect possible money-laundering.

source: www.abs-cbnnews.com