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Iraqi Kurdistan govt KRG confirms received
UK "market abuse" emails
8.4.2012 |
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Ashti Hawrami (L), oil minister of the
semi-autonomous Kurdistan region of Iraq, Ian Hannam,
a senior JP Morgan banker and former territorial
army captain. Also in 2009 Ashti Hawrami accused of buying stocks
worth $35 million in DNO International ASA.
See Ashti Hawrami Related Links
April 8, 2012
ERBIL-Hewlęr, Kurdistan region 'Iraq', —
The government of the semi-autonomous Kurdistan
region of Iraq has confirmed that it received emails
from a senior JP Morgan banker that the UK financial
regulator said constituted
market
abuse.
The banker, Ian Hannam, who was JPMorgan's
London-based global chairman of equity capital
markets, was later fined 450,000 pounds ($712,400)
by the Financial Services Authority (FSA) and has
since resigned.
Sources had told Reuters on Friday that Ashti
Hawrami, Minister of Natural Resources for the
Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG), was the
previously unidentified "Mr. A" who received emails
from Hannam containing privileged information on the
banker's client, Heritage Oil. The FSA said the
information could have been used to unfair advantage
in the markets.
The KRG said it had contact with Hannam "at various
levels" during the period when the emails were sent.
"The KRG confirms that the information identified by
the FSA contained in the two emails was unsolicited,
and further confirms that neither the KRG, nor any
representative of the KRG,www.ekurd.net
responded to that information or took any action as
a result of that information," it said on Saturday
[See
KRG statement].
The first email, sent in September 2008 to Mr A,
contained information about a potential takeover bid
for Heritage, while a second, a month later, was
sent to Mr. A and an unidentified Mr. B and included
information on an oil find Heritage had made.
The FSA said the email to Mr. A represented a
serious matter partly because Mr. A could have
advised his organisation to buy a stake in Heritage.
Around the time of the emails, the KRG did buy a
stake in another Kurdish-focused explorer, Norway's
DNO International .
Hannam, a gruff former special forces soldier, is
one of Britain's most successful investment bankers
and is appealing against the fine.
Heritage has declined requests to comment on the
matter.
The Kurdistan region has emerged as an area of keen
interest for international oil companies after years
when it was mainly only a focus for small,
independent players such as Heritage.
However, the area's image has been damaged by a
series of high-profile lawsuits and regulatory
probes in Norway and the UK.
A spokesman for the KRG declined to provide further
details on the matter.
"The KRG considers this to be a UK regulatory matter
between the FSA and Mr Hannam, and has nothing
further to add," the statement added.
Spokesmen for Hannam and JPMorgan have declined to
comment.
KRG statement on FSA
Decision Notice dated 27 February 2012 related to Mr
Ian Charles Hannam
There have been media reports regarding a decision
by the UK's Financial Services Authority (FSA)
against Mr Ian Hannam, a senior banker at JP Morgan.
The FSA Decision Notice refers to two emails sent by
Mr Hannam.
The Decision Notice does not identify the Kurdistan
Regional Government as the recipient of the emails,www.ekurd.net
referring instead to 'Organisation C' and a 'Mr A'.
However, some media reports have revealed these to
be, respectively, the Kurdistan Regional Government
(KRG) and KRG Minister of Natural Resources Dr
Hawrami.
In these circumstances the KRG would like to clarify
the following:
Mr Hannam had contact with the KRG at various levels
in 2008. One of Mr Hannam’s clients was Heritage, an
oil company with a production sharing contract in
the Kurdistan Region.
The FSA decision refers to two emails that were sent
by Mr Hannam to 'Mr A'. The FSA notes that no action
was taken by any party based on those emails.
The KRG confirms that the information identified by
the FSA contained in the two emails was unsolicited,
and further confirms that neither the KRG, nor any
representative of the KRG, responded to that
information or took any action as a result of that
information.
The KRG considers this to be a UK regulatory matter
between the FSA and Mr Hannam, and has nothing
further to add.
Copyright ©, respective author or news agency,
Reuters | krg.org
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