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Politics : American Presidential Politics and foreign affairs -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (4756)	2/27/2006 11:11:08 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 71588

There are not many companies that are in the port management business. hoovweb.hoovers.com The American one based in Seattle is privately owned. they may not have the $6.8B plus another $1B to upgrade security. P&O didn't have the $1B; they lost $400M last fiscal year. Maybe we could raise the $8B from others n SI and buy take the company private ourselves? "I pointed out that ALL trade with enemy states is illegal during wartime..." The news yet about declaring war on UAE hasn't gotten to me yet. <g> Does OBL have the $8B plus investment returns to repay Dubai Ports for the loss they would incur when the US takes the company like they did Bayer in WWII?

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (4756)	6/30/2006 4:41:30 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Respond to of 71588

(AP) Dubai Port Firm Gains From Controversy Jun 25 2006 A cargo ship leaves the Jebel Ali port about 40 kms south of Dubai, United Arab Emirates, Thursday June 22, 2006. Dubai's state-run port operator, DP World, has been anything but hamstrung by the U.S. Congress' scuttling of its bid to run six U.S. ports. (AP Photo/Kamran Jebreili) ANJAN SUNDARAM Associated Press Writer DUBAI, United Arab Emirates Dubai's state-run port operator, DP World, has been anything but hamstrung by the U.S. Congress' scuttling of its bid to run six U.S. ports. The company has stepped up acquisitions of global shipping terminals, growing at a furious pace. It also seems to have gained some sympathy within the industry for its handling of the dispute, which some viewed as prompted by anti-Arab bias. "The industry feels that DP World has been treated badly and has a great deal of sympathy for them," said Katy Aldrick, analyst with London-based Drewry Shipping Consultants. "And DP World acted with dignity throughout." Since March, when Congress voted to block DP World from running dockside operations in America, the world's third-largest port operator has racked up an impressive list of deals and acquisitions, adding to its already bulging portfolio of operations in 13 countries. In June, it landed a $210 million, 30-year concession to develop and run a container terminal in Peru's Callao port near Lima. Also this month, DP World signed a $500 million deal to develop another container terminal at the Chinese port of Tianjin, China's fifth-largest port _ and the seventh Chinese port with DP World operations. The company is due to finish construction this year on a new terminal at the Korean port of Pusan, the world's third-largest container port. DP World won rights to run that terminal for the next 30 years. And work is under way on a new $500 million terminal in southern India and another DP World terminal in Vietnam. Late last year, the Dubai port operator bought terminals in Qingdao, China, and Yarmica, Turkey, and expanded operations in Romania. "DP World's rapid growth is unprecedented. No other operator has made such major acquisitions in order to expand so rapidly," Aldrick said. Earlier this year, DP World's $6.85 billion purchase of British firm Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Co., or P&O, gave it control of ports in New York, New Jersey, New Orleans, Baltimore, Miami and Philadelphia _ plus lesser port activities at 16 other ports in the United States. But the deal sparked an outcry in Congress, where some members said they had concerns that an Arab-owned port operator could expose the United States to Middle Eastern terror groups. Bowing to political pressure, DP World promised to sell its U.S. operations by October. Analysts said DP World is on course to meet that deadline. Many in the Middle East felt that Congress' opposition smacked of anti-Arab bias, and the imbroglio hurt U.S. relations with the Emirates, considered a sometimes American ally. But the U.S. opposition did not damage DP World's business, and company officials and analysts say the firm may have won an image boost from its handling of the matter. A DP World official said privately that the company would consider returning to the United States if U.S. laws ever allowed it. "The U.S. ports part of the P&O portfolio is only a small part of their business," Aldrick said. "There are many other opportunities, which they are pursuing elsewhere." DP World refused to comment on the sale of its American ports, believed to be worth roughly $700 million. The company has been discussing the sale with several potential bidders. Meanwhile, a lawsuit filed in Miami seeks to block the sale of DP World's U.S. assets. Port Everglades, Fla.-based Eller & Co., a partner with P&O at the Miami port, claims in the lawsuit that it was not consulted on a deal that made the company an unhappy partner with the Dubai-based operator. On the Net: dpworld.com

To: Lazarus_Long who wrote (4756)	11/30/2007 9:47:20 PM
From: Peter Dierks	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 71588

Citi of Arabia Abu Dhabi takes Manhattan--and Washington, too? Thursday, November 29, 2007 12:01 a.m. EST Investors seem delighted that Abu Dhabi is injecting $7.5 billion into Citigroup, bidding up stocks in general on new confidence that the mortgage solvency crisis might ease. We hate to spoil the party, but it strikes us as unfortunate, if not a tragedy, that America's largest bank had to go hat in hand to Arab sheiks because of bad management and blundering U.S. monetary policy. The Citi play is being spun as a master-stroke by Robert Rubin, the chairman of the bank's executive committee. The bank gets a capital infusion without having to cut its dividend, and gives up only a minority stake while Abu Dhabi gets no seat on the board. Even better from a political point of view, Abu Dhabi will be able to convert shares for no more than a 4.9% stake, which comes in just below the 5% level that requires approval by the Federal Reserve. Mr. Rubin even seems to have greased the skids on Capitol Hill, with New York Senator Chuck Schumer already forgetting his campaign against Dubai Ports World. Citigroup did have to shore up its balance sheet, and we suppose petrodollars are a better source of capital than U.S. taxpayers under a "too big to fail" doctrine. On the other hand, where were Mr. Rubin and the bank board when Citi was betting so much on subprime? Given the 11% the bank is paying Abu Dhabi, Citigroup's other equity holders might also be better off down the road had they taken a dividend cut instead. Most important, no one should be under any illusions that Abu Dhabi's investment is a normal commercial transaction. It comes from a sovereign wealth fund controlled by a foreign government, which has political as much as business interests; from an Arab government that has a troubling history with American banking laws; and it offers a Middle Eastern entree into the U.S. financial system that since 9/11 plays a pivotal role in the war on terror. Readers of these columns might recall in particular Abu Dhabi's adventures in Beltway banking. It was Sheik Zayed, the father of the current ruler of Abu Dhabi, who owned the infamous Bank of Credit and Commerce International, or BCCI, whose fraudulent tentacles spanned the globe, including the highest levels of Washington politics a decade and a half ago. The current emir, Sheik Khalifa bin Zayed al Nahyan, is not his father--who always maintained that he was a victim of the BCCI fraud himself. And Robert Morgenthau, the Manhattan District Attorney who investigated BCCI, tells us that Abu Dhabi "has been responsible" since BCCI. On the other hand, the bank was forced to settle for hundreds of millions of dollars after lying to evade American banking laws. Mr. Morgenthau also recounted that the elder Sheik Zayed once called to inform the State Department that, if Mr. Morgenthau indicted anyone in the royal family over the scandal, he would pull his billions out of the U.S. and make no further investments here. Mr. Morgenthau says this message was passed to him via the Justice Department. His reply: "Tell them that you don't control that cranky S.O.B. in New York." As a long-time New York DA, Mr. Morgenthau could stand up to such political pressure the way the Justice Department might not. In certain corners of the world, large investments come with political expectations. Perhaps the Abu Dhabi of today has moved beyond such threats. The United Arab Emirates have helped us in the war on terror, and the U.S. is the ultimate defense for the oil-rich emirates on the edge of the Arabian peninsula. One can argue that investments like Abu Dhabi's draw both sides more closely to each other, and so are mutually beneficial. Yet everyone should also admit that this investment means that Arab interests will now have inordinate sway over America's largest bank. Abu Dhabi's 4.9% stake combined with the 3.9% stake of Saudi Prince Alwaleed bin Talal makes them the bank's dominant shareholders, and who knows how many other smaller holdings are in Middle Eastern hands. The small Gulf states may be governed separately from Saudi Arabia, but they are closely linked by geography, family ties, and national interests. For purposes of political influence, they often behave as part of the same tribe. In that regard, the 4.9% gambit looks all the more troubling as a way to avoid Fed scrutiny. If the investors' motives are merely commercial, why go to such lengths? The wire-transfer system is crucial in the war on terror, and at a minimum the Fed and U.S. Treasury need to know that Citigroup will continue to cooperate in sanctions against terror states and tracking terror financing. Citigroup's enforcement unit should be given a thorough scrubbing. Speaking of the Fed, no one should forget that its monetary mistakes helped to make possible Citi of Arabia. Its easy money policy this decade created a subsidy for debt that led to the housing bubble and Citi's mistakes in the mortgage and SIV markets. It also fed a global commodity boom that has enriched the oil producers and other countries that have a low propensity for domestic consumption. Their petrodollar windfall has to go somewhere, and so it is gobbling up U.S. assets. This recycling may help Citigroup now, but it has also weakened American influence more broadly as the dollar has continued to decline. And it left Abu Dhabi better positioned than American finance companies to rescue Citigroup. No one favors open capital markets more than we do, and foreign investment is a crucial part of American economic success. But since 9/11, commercial calculations must also consider national security. We'd feel better if this deal were inspected by U.S. officials, and we especially agree with Mr. Morgenthau when he says, "It's a sad day for American financial markets when you've got to turn to Abu Dhabi to get bailed out." opinionjournal.com