Wharf wins long battle to keep hold of its key
We hear that the Wharf Group and the government have come to an agreement over the lease of Ocean Terminal, bringing an end to years of wrangling which at one point went to court. We understand that Wharf has been granted a 50-year lease. A Wharf spokesman said talks with the government were still ongoing. The 21-year lease on Ocean Terminal is due to expire next year. Wharf had asked the government in 2003 to extend the lease ahead of new investment, which included plans for a London Eye-style Ferris wheel. But it declined to extend the lease - a decision which prompted Wharf to initiate a judicial review. The government then clarified its position, saying that it had not said it would not renew the lease, it had just not decided what to do with the site after the lease expired.
Is there anyone out there?
The Hong Kong Trade Development Council is planning a big conference in London in September. The catchily themed event, Think Asia Think Hong Kong, aims to appeal to British businesses that are thinking Asia and intends to get them to think Hong Kong. Various Hong Kong-related luminaries have been recruited: Douglas Flint, chairman of HSBC, Anthony Nightingale, Jardine's low-profile taipan, Stanley Hui Hon-chung, the Hong Kong airport boss, and lawmaker Miriam Lau Kin-yee, and Victor Fung Kwok-king, among others. Let's hope they don't all fly on the same plane. While the conference is not short of speakers, we gather the HKTDC has been in a bit of flap over getting relevant people to come and listen to them. So much so, it has been asking speakers for help as to which trade organisations they should contact. You would have thought the combined wisdom of the overseas offices of the Hong Kong government and the HKTDC in Britain would have this knowledge at their fingertips. Otherwise why are they there?
Big spenders
There's a new list ranking the world's biggest wealth managers. In first place is Bank of America Corp with US$1.9 trillion as of the end of last year, according to Scorpio Partnership and reported by Bloomberg. In second position, it's Morgan Stanley with US$1.6 trillion. And the rest: 3) UBS, US$1.6 trillion; 4) Wells Fargo & Co, S$1.4 trillion; 5) Credit Suisse, US$865 billion; 6) Royal Bank of Canada, US$435 billion; 7) HSBC, US$390 billion; 8) Deutsche Bank, US$369 billion; 10) JPMorgan Chase & Co, US$284 billion. Goldman Sachs was 12th with US$229 billion, and Citigroup 20th with US$141 billion.