A UN report has acknowledged that the Libyan Investment Authority (LIA) based in Malta and under the control of the internationally recognized government at the time of Prime Minister Abdullah Thinni, appointed by the House of Representatives in Tobruk, ‘’have access to the assets of those wealth funds’’.
The LIA is Libya’s main sovereign wealth fund controlling a number of subsidiaries including the Libya Africa Portfolio (LAP)
Moreover, the UN report says that it had contacted the Tripoli-based contender for chairmanship of the LIA ‘’by telephone’’, concluding that ‘’he has no access to the fund’s assets’’.
The claim came in the 215-page final report of the UN Panel of Experts on Libya to the President of the Security Council was released early this week.
The report said: ‘’As in the case of other national institutions, there are rival manifestations of both the Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Africa Investment Portfolio, based in Tripoli and Malta. Panel sources indicate that it is those under the control of the interim Government of Libya, based in Malta, that have access to the assets of those wealth funds’’ (Libya Herald italics).
‘’In November 2015, the Panel interviewed the Chief Executive Officer of the Malta-based Libyan Investment Authority, Hasan Bohadi, who stated that the Authority, as constituted, consisted of a board of directors, which he chaired, appointed by the “internationally recognized Government” and the House of Representatives in October 2014’’.
‘’He relies upon Libyan Law No. 13,52 which states that a board of trustees, chaired by the Prime Minister, appoints a board of directors. He also stated that the following subsidiaries of the Libyan Investment Authority reported directly to the board: the Libyan Africa Investment Portfolio, the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company, the Long Term Portfolio, Oilinvest and the Libyan Local Investment and Development Fund’’.
‘’The Panel also contacted the head of the Libyan Investment Authority in Tripoli, Abdulmajid Braysh, by telephone. He has no access to the fund’s assets. Both he and Mr. Bohadi agree that the assets of the Libyan Investment Authority and the Libyan Africa Investment Portfolio currently frozen should remain so, pending the establishment of the Government of National Accord, which was also the best protection against misappropriation’’.
The report went on to recommended: ‘’To explicitly allow and encourage the reinvestment of assets frozen under the measures, in consultation with the Government of Libya, in order to protect the value of investments of designated individuals and entities’’; To encourage Member States to urge financial institutions to credit interest payments to frozen assets of designated individuals and entities, in line with normal business practice’’.
It will be recalled that earlier this month a London High Court delayed ruling on who has legitimate and exclusive control over the LIA based on UK government advice.
By Sami Zaptia.
