Banque Havilland Explained

Banque Havilland S.A.
Type:Private Company
Foundation:[1]
Location Country:Luxembourg
Num Locations:6
Key People:David Rowland (Owner)
Marc Arand (Group CEO)
Industry:Financial services
Services:Private banking
Asset management
Wealth management
Investment fund
Trading
Num Employees:200 (Luxembourg)

Banque Havilland S.A. is a private bank headquartered in Luxembourg. It is owned by the Rowland family and provides services in private banking, wealth and asset management, fund services to private clients and institutions. Banque Havilland has five offices; these are located in Luxembourg, Liechtenstein, Monaco, the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.[2]

On 9 August 2024, the Luxembourg District Court placed the bank in administration.

History

Banque Havilland obtained a banking licence in Luxembourg in 2009.[3] David Rowland and his son Jonathan achieved this by obtaining the good bank of the failed Kaupthing Bank Luxembourg via their investment company Blackfish Capital. The bad bank was renamed Pillar Securitisation, for which Havilland acted as administrator.[4] It was named after Rowland's Havilland Hall mansion in Guernsey.

It opened its first overseas entity in Monaco by acquiring Dexia Private Bank S.A.M. from Dexia Banque Internationale à Luxembourg in 2012.[5] A year later, in 2013, it launched its London branch[6] and acquired a majority stake in Banque Pasche (Liechtenstein) AG and 100% of shares in Pasche Bank & Trust Limited forming two new subsidiaries Banque Havilland (Liechtenstein) AG.[7]

In 2016, Banque Havilland acquired Banque Pasche S.A. in Switzerland allowing it to start operating in Switzerland, in Zurich.[8] Moreover, through its acquisition of Banco Popolare Luxembourg S.A. from Banco Popolare, the bank extended its services to institutional clients.[9]

In 2018, the bank was fined fined €4 million for breaches of money-laundering regulations. In 2023, the bank’s British subsidiary was shut down by regulators. In 2023, Banque Havilland announced the sale of its institutional banking activities to Banco Inversis, a subsidiary of Spanish investment bank Banca March.[10]

In early August 2024, the European Central Bank withdrew Banque Havilland’s operating licence, stopping it trading in most of Europe. On 9 August 2024, the Luxembourg District Court placed the bank in administration.[11] [12]

Financial war against Qatar

See also: 2017 Qatar diplomatic crisis. In November 2017, leaked emails purported to show that Yousef Al Otaiba, ambassador of the United Arab Emirates to the United States, had hired Banque Havilland to draw up a plan on how to start a financial war against Qatar.[13] The bank has denied the allegations of overseas currency manipulation.[14]

In January 2023, the Financial Conduct Authority issued notices to Banque Havilland, its former London CEO, Edmund Havilland, and two other former employees for their role in the 2017 plan that targeted the financial system of Qatar. The FCA fined Banque Havilland £10 million. David Rowland’s son. Edmund Rowland was also banned and fined £352,000. An analyst with the bank, Vladimir Bolelyy created a presentation with “manipulative trading strategies” that aimed at devaluing the Qatari riyal. The watchdog censored and fined Bolelyy £14,200. A former senior manager at the bank, David Weller also received the FCA notice, which banned and fined him £54,000 for contributing significantly to the document prepared by the bank. A copy of the document, which was disseminated by Edmund Rowland and Bolelyy, was also provided to an official of the Abu Dhabi sovereign wealth fund.[15] [16] [17] David Rowland maintained good relationship with the UAE President Mohammed bin Zayed, who was known as “The Boss” at Banque Havilland.[18]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Ouverture officielle Banque Havilland en présence de S. A. R le Duc d'York K. G. . Official Opening of Banque Havilland in the presence of HRH the Duke of York, KG . Paperjam.lu. 15 February 2017.
  2. Web site: Contact Us. banquehavilland.com. https://web.archive.org/web/20170511044203/http://www.banquehavilland.com/en/contact. May 11, 2017. dead. January 3, 2019.
  3. Web site: Le Président du Conseil d'Administration et la Direction sont heureux d'annoncer l'ouverture de "Banque Havilland S. A." prévue ce lundi 13 juillet 2009. Paperjam.lu. 15 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180730141805/http://paperjam.lu/communique/le-president-du-conseil-dadministration-et-la-direction-sont-heureux-dannoncer-louverture. 2018-07-30. dead.
  4. News: Ward. Andrew. Pignal. Stanley. Luxembourg raids over Kaupthing failure. Financial Times. 12 February 2010. 10 November 2017.
  5. Web site: Banque Havilland acquires Dexia Private Bank Monaco. Investmenteurope.net. 15 February 2017.
  6. News: Havilland ouvre un bureau à Londres . Havilland opens an office in London . Paperjam.lu. 15 February 2017 . French.
  7. News: Acquisition of Banque Pasche private banking business in Liechtenstein. Paperjam.lu. 15 February 2017.
    News: Banque Havilland expands its international network to the Bahamas. Paperjam.lu. 15 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20180730113656/http://paperjam.lu/communique/banque-havilland-expands-its-international-network-bahamas. 30 July 2018. dead.
  8. Web site: Banque Havilland S. A. acquires Swiss bank, Banque Pasche S. A.. abbl.lu. 15 February 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170216061921/http://www.abbl.lu/fr/blog/article/2016/05/banque-havilland-s-a-acquires-swiss-bank-banque-pasche-s-a. 2017-02-16. dead.
  9. Web site: Banque Havilland S. A. acquires Banco Popolare Luxembourg S. A.. abbl.lu. 2017-02-15. https://web.archive.org/web/20170216061924/http://www.abbl.lu/fr/blog/article/2016/03/banque-havilland-s-a-acquires-banco-popolare-luxembourg-s-a. 2017-02-16. dead.
  10. Web site: “I don’t think we are going against the grain”: Banque Havilland CEO . Delano Finance . 20 May 2024.
  11. News: Banque Havilland placed into administration by Luxembourg court . Monaghan . John . Luxembourg Times . 9 August 2024 . 13 August 2024.
  12. News: How Prince Andrew's favourite banker 'Spotty' Rowland came unstuck . Bow . Michael . The Daily Telegraph . subscription . 12 August 2024 . 13 August 2024.
  13. News: Grim. Ryan. Walsh. Ben. Leaked Documents Expose Stunning Plan to Wage Financial War on Qatar — and Steal the World Cup. The Intercept. 9 November 2017. 15 November 2017.
  14. News: Azhar . Saeed . 2022-02-01 . UK watchdog warns Banque Havilland over Qatar bonds' presentation . en . Reuters . 2023-02-01.
  15. Web site: FCA publishes Decision Notices for Banque Havilland SA and three of its former employees. 5 May 2023. Financial Conduct Authority.
  16. Web site: UK Fines and Bans Banque Havilland’s Edmund Rowland Over Qatari Plot. 5 May 2023. Bloomberg.
  17. Web site: Banque Havilland faces £10mn fine from UK watchdog over Qatar scheme. 5 May 2023. The Financial Times.
  18. Web site: At Banque Havilland, Abu Dhabi’s Crown Prince Was Known as ‘The Boss’. 21 December 2020. Bloomberg.