chek't
SAM424 USAF C-40B departed JBA ne (pf believes this AC has been used by AG Barr or DOJ officials in the past)
headed by SPAR18 USAF C-40 Clipper also ne out of JBA
SPAR=Special Priority Air Resource
WEPS22 US Navy E-6B Mercury doing fly-bys at NAS Pax River and on ground now
H2O Freezes Funds as French Watchdog Scrutinizes Windhorst Deal
H2O Asset Management has frozen several of its funds after the French financial regulator raised concerns about the valuation of illiquid assets being sold to an investment vehicle owned by German financier Lars Windhorst. France’s AMF flagged “valuation uncertainties” because of the significant exposure of three H2O’s funds to “private securities,” leading the asset manager to suspend those funds and five others. That followed an agreement to sell all of the holdings to Evergreen Funding, a new company owned by Windhorst’s trust.
this is how mark-to-model (what they are using) vs mark-to-market strats to have real consequences as they will not make that statements overtly.
Windhorst, who sold the assets to H2O in the first place, has secured financing from two high-profile investors to buy them back at discounted prices, Bloomberg News reported on Friday. Windhorst tapped German fashion retail magnate Friedrich Knapp and health care entrepreneur Ulrich Marseille for about 500 million euros ($595 million) in funding to help him repurchase the assets. The intervention from the French watchdog is the latest twist in a saga that began more than a year ago, after revelations about the funds’ exposure to investments linked to Windhorst. Research firm Morningstar Inc. subsequently expressed concerns about H2O holding rarely traded securities in funds that allowed investors to make daily withdrawals. The potential for a liquidity crunch triggered about 8 billion euros of fund outflows. The suspension will be in place for four weeks, during which time H2O will create what’s known as “side pockets” to house the private securities, the firm said. The open-end funds that are frozen include the Allegro, MultiBonds, MultiStrategies and Adagio strategies, according to a statement from H2O.
Windhorst declined to comment. A representative for the French regulator said AMF had nothing more to add beyond Friday’s statement. H2O’s fund investments included debt and stock issued by companies tied to Windhorst, such as Italian lingerie brand La Perla and oil explorer Trent Petroleum. Many of the assets suffered a battering as the coronavirus pandemic took hold in March, with bets on oil and Italian bonds suffering some of the steepest losses. In May, H2O agreed to sell the illiquid securities back to Windhorst, allowing it to unwind positions that had prompted concerns about its risk controls. The transaction is taking place in several tranches and will be completed late September, according to a person familiar with the matter. Knapp and Marseille took up about 40% of a 1.25 billion euro high-yield bond issued by Evergreen to buy back the portfolio, according to people familiar with the matter and a presentation seen by Bloomberg News. Knapp, Marseille and a third unidentified investor bought about half of the notes, people said. Windhorst himself invested about 400 million euros in his own bonds and a few outside investors took the rest, the people added. The German financier has recently held talks with other potential investors about taking part in the raise, some of the people said.
Evergreen in June issued a 1.25 billion euro one-year bond paying a yield of 12.5%, designed to buy back securities with a nominal value of over 2 billion euros at a 50% discount, Bloomberg News reported Friday. The deal would yield a profit of more than 1 billion euros for Windhorst’s Evergreen, the people said. Knapp, 67, owns German fashion retail chain New Yorker which boasts more than 1,100 stores and 18,000 employees. Marseille made a fortune in sanatoriums, rehab and other specialized clinics.
H2O, which manages more than $25 billion in assets, is led by Bruno Crastes and Vincent Chailley. The investment firm is one of the top money makers for Natixis’s asset management arm.
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-29/h2o-freezes-funds-as-french-watchdog-scrutinizes-windhorst-deal
from Feb 7, 2018
Mellon Banking Heir's New Crypto Fortune: Almost $1B In Ripple's XRP
This heir to one of America's great banking fortunes, and a former chair of the New York Republican Party's finance committee, has struggled with drug addiction. So when he began dabbling heavily in cryptocurrencies years ago, his friends and family tried to dissuade him, figuring it was another erratic obsession. And, indeed, he abandoned some early investments and sold his Bitcoin a few years ago. But then Mellon got turned on to XRP, spending some $2 million to acquire coins, which he liked because it's one of the few cryptocurrencies that are working within the banking system. "Crypto is scary and dark. It's anti-America," says Mellon, 54. "I am pro-America, pro-business and pro-bank. That's why I went with Ripple." Mellon's XRP is worth around $1 billion. Recently divorced, he parties in a posh Los Angeles house he rents for $150,000 month. "It's $1 billion virtually for free. I actually have earned it because I was the only person who was willing to raise his hand," says Mellon. "My family thought I was insane, when I knew it was a home run."
https://www.forbes.com/sites/nathanvardi/2018/02/07/matthew-mellon-xrp-ether-crypto-cryptocurrency/#185c027beb35
Japan and US defense chiefs agree to keep China in check
Japan's Defense Minister Taro Kono and his U.S. counterpart agreed in Guam on Saturday that they will keep China's maritime assertiveness in the South and East China seas in check. "As for the South and East China seas, we confirmed that Japan and the United States will strongly oppose countries unilaterally changing the status quo by force," Kono said after meeting with Mark Esper at Andersen Air Force Base. Beijing is involved in territorial disputes with Tokyo and a number of other Asian neighbors in the waters. Pentagon officials said China fired four ballistic missiles into the South China Sea on Wednesday in an apparent warning to U.S. reconnaissance planes flying near areas where Beijing has been conducting naval drills.
Kono told Esper the launch could help destabilize the region and that he will monitor the situation with concern, according to a Japanese Defense Ministry official. At the outset of the talks, Esper condemned China's behavior in the waters, saying, "We are steadfast in our opposition to Beijing's destabilizing activities in the region." Kono said in response, "I think the world has been changing drastically. Not just because of COVID-19, but because there are some attempts to change the status quo by force and coercion." The Japanese defense chief said he and Esper reaffirmed that Article 5 of the Japan-U.S. Security Treaty applies to the Senkaku Islands, a group of East China Sea islets controlled by Japan but claimed by China, which calls them Diaoyu. Article 5 stipulates Washington's commitment to defend Tokyo. Tensions over the islands have been growing, with Chinese vessels spotted near them for 111 consecutive days through this month, the longest streak since Japan bought the islets from a private owner and put them under state control in 2012. Kono said he and Esper also agreed during their first direct talks since January to cooperate toward the establishment of a new missile defense system after Tokyo decided in June to halt plans to deploy the U.S.-developed Aegis Ashore missile defense system. "We agreed on how Japan and the U.S. could enhance our cooperation on integrated air and missile defense, as well as ISR (intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance) capability," Kono said.
The planned deployment of the Aegis Ashore system, originally intended to beef up Japan's deterrence against North Korea's missile threats, was scrapped as Tokyo found it potentially costly and time-consuming upgrades would become necessary to ensure the safety of nearby residents during a missile interception. Kono said he explained to Esper about the ongoing talks at Japan's National Security Council on alternative options. Tokyo is set to indicate a policy on the new missile defense system in September. In a related move, the ruling Liberal Democratic Party submitted a proposal this month for Japan to consider "possession of the ability to intercept ballistic missiles and others even in the territory of an opponent," a controversial suggestion in light of Japan's war-renouncing Constitution.
The two defense chiefs also affirmed that North Korea's repeated launch of ballistic missiles is a violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions and a challenge to the international society. Moreover, they agreed to keep working to ensure complete implementation of the U.N. resolutions by the North so its weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missiles programs will be abolished in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible manner." Kono and Esper also discussed enhanced cooperation between the two allies in fields such as outer space, cyberspace and electronic warfare, the Defense Ministry official said. In Tokyo, Kono met U.S. Chief of Space Operations Gen. John Raymond on Wednesday when the latter was making his first visit to Japan since the creation of the Space Force and his appointment in December last year.
Kono is on his first overseas trip since February, when he attended an international conference in Germany.
https://asia.nikkei.com/Politics/International-relations/Japan-and-US-defense-chiefs-agree-to-keep-China-in-check
Dutch AF NAF11 G4 departed Savannah, GA-Hilton Head Int'l ne
sauce doesn't match cap