Chapter 979 Independence Referendum
“Yes, we have successfully completed the set goals. The current fundraising scale of the Vision Fund and the European Wealth Fund has exceeded the planned scale by more than 80%.”
The time came to 2014. After New Year’s Day, Daisy reported the good news to Barron.
The two funds Barron plans to establish are the Vision Fund, which invests in emerging markets, and the European Wealth Fund, which invests in the European market. The current fundraising process is very smooth and is expected to be completed by the end of January. Previously, it was able to complete fundraising plans of US$100 billion and €50 billion respectively.
As for the managers of the two funds, they have already been determined. The CEO of the Vision Fund is Heidi Collins, recommended by Daisy. She is 41 years old and used to work in the Asia region of Standard Chartered Bank. Headed its investment arm and later joined DS Group Heidi has been serving as Daisy’s assistant. According to Daisy’s evaluation, Heidi not only has rich experience in company management, but also has an overall strategic vision and is very good at communicating with others. Therefore, Heidi is qualified to handle the Vision Fund with a total capital size of up to 100 billion US dollars. CEO position.
The CEO of the European Wealth Fund is Gerald Reynolds, who was recommended by Ashley Weber. Gerald was born in a once-prominent aristocratic family in France. Although his family's situation is now much worse than before, But he still has certain connections in Europe. In addition, Gerald, as the second son of the family, also has strong personal abilities. He has participated in many previous mergers and acquisitions of William Weber Capital.
After raising funds, these two super funds need to spend the money and invest.
The Vision Fund has something to say. After all, Barron’s experience shows that there are still many investment opportunities for investments in emerging markets.
But the European Wealth Fund...
In addition to participating in the acquisition of two Italian banks by Continental United Bank, Barron’s request to Gerald Reynolds is that first of all Conduct research on Europe's basic livelihood industries, including electricity, gas, water, logistics and other industries, and list companies suitable for investment or acquisition...
In addition, it aims to target high-tech industries in Europe, including precision manufacturing, semiconductor and other industries.
After all, he understands that in many common industries, especially manufacturing, it will be difficult for Europe to compete with China in the future.
In a certain period of time, the decline of Europe is inevitable, so as an investment, Barron's can only choose industries that are more stable and less susceptible to this decline.
……
“According to a recent opinion poll, 30% of the people in Scotland firmly support independence, 51% do not support independence, and 19% do not. Confirmed intention..."
During dinner in the morning, Bonnie flipped through the newspaper and casually told Barron what the newspaper was talking about about the Scottish independence referendum.
Yes, there will be an independence referendum in Scotland on September 18 this year...
This matter has often become a very hot topic in the UK since it was confirmed in 2012. topic.
In fact, in addition to the thousands of years of historical entanglement between Scotland and England, the reason why Scotland will clamor to be independent from England every once in a while is nothing more than interests...
< br>It can be said that the British side has been continuously deindustrializing since World War II, shifting the country's industrial pillars to the financial and service industries...
However, Northern Ireland and Scotland are both places where the British industrial manufacturing industry is concentrated. Unlike England, especially those near London, which have benefited from the development of the British financial industry, these areas have suffered losses due to the process of deindustrialization. , so there has always been criticism about this.
What’s more important is the North Sea oil and gas fields owned by England. The blocks they are located in are close to Scotland. It can be said that 90% of the area of these oil and gas blocks belongs to Scotland.
However, Scotland can only obtain 10% of the benefits from the North Sea oil and gas fields. This also makes the Scots think that once they break away from the United Kingdom, almost all the North Sea oil and gas fields will be able to give them 10% of the British population. That income will definitely increase significantly...
Of course, in addition to this, the Scottish government always talks about independence, which is also a means to fight for interests with the British government. For this reason, agreeing to Scotland’s independence referendum can be said to be an adventure for Cameron – if the final result of the vote is that most Scots do not support independence, then you should stop shouting all day long and just follow the country’s lead. That’s it…
In 2007, the Scottish National Party won a majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament in the Scottish elections and formed a minority government.
You must know that the Scottish National Party, as you can tell from its name, is the hardcore supporter of Scottish independence...
After winning the election, the Scottish local government controlled by the Scottish National Party published a book titled The white paper "Choose Scotland's Future" outlines possible options for Scotland's future, including independence...
Faced with this situation, the Scottish Labor Party, the Scottish Conservatives and the Scottish Liberal Democrats jointly boycotted independence as a A referendum on options.
The then Prime Minister Brown also publicly opposed this independent option.
The three major parties formed the anti-independence Kalman Commission, which reviewed devolution and considered all constitutional provisions that prevented independence.
On 8th 2009, the Scottish National Party announced that the "Scottish Referendum Act 2010" would become part of its legislative program for 2009-2010, detailing the issues and implementation methods of this possible independence referendum.
According to the plan, the bill will be announced on "Pence Night" on January 25, 2010, while the referendum is proposed to be held on "St. Andrew's Day" on November 30, 2010.
However, due to the Scottish National Party's status as a minority government and the opposition of all major political parties, this bill was not passed.
So in September 2010, the Scottish government could only announce that it would not hold a referendum before the 2011 election.
Then, the Scottish National Party, whose slogan was to promote Scottish independence, won the 2011 election. They won an absolute majority of seats in the Scottish Parliament.
Later, Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond stated his intention to hold a referendum in 2014 or 2015.
After intensive discussions, the British government, the Scottish Affairs Minister and Prime Minister Cameron hinted that they hope that the British Parliament will devolve power to hold a referendum, but do not agree with the Scottish National Party's timetable and related arrangements.
And Alex Salmond and his Scottish National Party insist that the Scottish Parliament already has the power to implement a referendum and no longer accepts authority from Westminster.
Finally on October 15, 2012, Prime Minister Cameron and Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond jointly signed the historic "Edinburgh Agreement".
The agreement paves the way for a vote to be held in autumn 2014.
According to the provisions of the Edinburgh Agreement, this referendum only provides a "yes/no" option on whether Scotland should leave the United Kingdom, and allows people aged 16 and 17 to participate in the vote. The British government grants the Scottish Parliament limited power. Powers held this legal referendum under a mechanism known as "Section 30".
On November 14, 2013, the Scottish Parliament passed the Scottish Independence Referendum Act, allowing Scots to vote on whether Scotland should become an independent country. The referendum was set for September 18, 2014. day, which coincided with the 700th anniversary of the Battle of Bannockburn.
(End of this chapter)