Lai See

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.

Air of uncertainty

Those with a penchant for flying green might like to try Lufthansa the next time they are in Europe. The airline yesterday started scheduled flights between Hamburg and Frankfurt using Neste Oil's renewable aviation fuel. You get the impression the fuel is being introduced tentatively. It is only 376 kilometres from Hamburg to Frankfurt. One of the aircraft's engines will run on a 50:50 blend of renewable fuel and regular jet fuel, while the other engine will be entirely fuelled by regular jet fuel. Neste Oil says it refines the fuel from vegetable oils and waste fats 'that are fully traceable back to their source'. That's a relief.

How to marry a billionaire

Something for the ladies. If you want to marry a billionaire and want to know the best way to go about this then the mainland has the answer. For 30 hours of training at a cost of 20,000 yuan (HK$24,000) women are taught how to attract a billionaire or at least someone who is sufficiently affluent for money to be no longer a problem, Reuters reports. Women are taught how to make themselves more attractive, how to use make-up and how to detect a liar. They also learn how to decipher a man's character. The school has been open for about a year and says that in the past few months 30 of its students had found successful matches.