User:WICL Mauritius
WICL is an international distressed asset and private equity management company established in early 2011 as an offshoot of The Weston Group LLC, the oldest emerging markets investment bank and brokerage firm in New York. The Group was founded in 1989 by John R. Liegey, a 36 year veteran of the global emerging markets. WICL benefits from a mature organizational structure with offices and employees in London, Mauritius, Mexico and Luxembourg.
WICL is wholly owned by Weston International Capital Management (Mauritius) Limited. The firm has robust litigation analysis capabilities and is staffed with experienced professionals. WICL investment professionals have an average of 30 years of experience and deep sourcing relationships in the major markets. The investment team has invested successfully through several market cycles in the emerging markets since 1977. The WICL investment team is supported by 42 lawyers on retainer from over 10 countries and multiple accounting, audit, collection and forensic consultants.
The WICL Investment Team has extensive emerging market trading, portfolio management, structuring, credit research and litigation capabilities across multiple asset classes and jurisdictions. WICL securities and loan experience include: - Highly structured financings; - Restructuring and distressed bankruptcy situations; - Litigation claims in multiple jurisdictions; - Keen knowledge of bank NPL accounting and collection processes; - Re-organizations and distressed equity analysis; - Public and private markets debt and equity investment expertise;
WICL has extensive sourcing capabilities based on over 36 years of global networking. WICL deal flow tends to be targeted and proprietary. WICL’s extensive list of international banking, mutual fund, hedge fund, insurance company and pension fund contacts allow for unprecedented access to sources of litigation claims and non-performing loan portfolios. The WICL network of lawyers, receivers, litigators and government officials adds to the sourcing capabilities of the team.
WICL’s investment approach emphasizes a focus on total uncorrelated alpha returns subject to acceptable levels of portfolio risk. WICL uses a synergistic combination of a bottom up securities and claims analysis and a team driven approach, an active litigation risk and expense management expertise and a significant experience in managing both negotiated and litigated settlement processes.
HISTORY The Weston Group LLC began its investment banking and capital markets trading business in 1989 with the specific intention of investing in distressed Mexican and Argentine corporate credits, claims, litigations and restructurings that were holdovers from the 1982 Latin American debt crisis and government defaults. Weston focussed on acquiring Mexican corporate bond and loan obligations that exceeded US$14 billion in original debt defaults. Weston successfully acquired over US$600 million of distressed Mexican corporate debt in a partnership with a Mexican proprietary trading firm and several wealthy backers in 1989 and 1990. US$600 million of corporate debt instruments were negotiated by the Weston partnership over 18 months and converted into either equity or cash by using litigation techniques previously unknown to the Mexican corporate world. Over US$90 million of gross profits were generated by the partnership in two years as Latin America emerged from a decade of bankruptcy. In 1991, Weston went on to become the first investment banking firm on Wall Street to underwrite a private sector corporate bond for a Mexican corporation post the 1982 default.
Weston’s brokerage and trading prowess vaulted it into a position of being Wall Street’s largest trader of Mexican debt securities denominated in US$ and Mexican Pesos from 1991 to 1995. Weston managed over US$18 billion of Mexican debt securities for some of the largest mutual funds and hedge funds in the world and created the first mortgage backed security in Latin America for a Mexican company known as Grupo Sidek S.A. in 1991. Weston clients who owned Mexican government debt securities were harmed by a Mexican Ministry of Finance decision to artificially devalue the Mexican Peso in late February 1994. Weston clients allowed us to challenge the wisdom of a governmental intervention in the free currency markets and we launched a public objection to the intervention which became known as The Weston Forum. History proved that with no change in the Mexican government’s foreign exchange policy forthcoming, Weston had no choice but to recommend to its 7 largest clients to liquidate all positions in Mexican debt. Weston executed a series of large scale liquidations of Mexican peso debt securities and forced Mexican Treasury auctions to be cancelled in March and April of 1994 while driving MXP interest rates from 6% to 30% in a matter of weeks. Weston continued negotiating with the Mexican Ministry of Finance and Central Bank but to no avail. By June 1994, Weston had successfully executed the sale of over US$14 billion of Mexican Government debt securities for its clients. The Mexican Government defaulted on US$37.5 billion of debt in December 1994 and the Mexican Peso devalued over 3000%. The Mexican Government default and devaluation were attributed to Weston in several stories written by the U.S. and Mexican press. Weston migrated to the distressed debt and private equity space in 1995 and has remained there ever since.
Weston International Capital Limited Weston International Capital Ltd. (“WICL”), formerly known as Weston International Capital Management (Mauritius) Ltd. (“WICM”), holds and manages a total portfolio of assets and litigation claims of approximately US$2,100,000,000. WICL operates as a regulated Closed End Investment Company in Mauritius. In December 2011, Weston International Asset Recovery Company Limited (“WIARCO”) a subsidiary of WICL, acquired a portfolio of approximately US $750 million of various cash accounts, equities, bank deposits, convertible notes and fund linked notes from a European Bank. Simultaneously WICL acquired a registered funds management company in Mauritius called First Capital Management Ltd. (“FCML”). FCML manages First Global Funds Ltd. PCC (“FGFL”), a protected cell mutual fund in Mauritius. FGFL has a portfolio of cash, equity and corporate promissory notes and bonds backing preference shares used by a Major Investment Bank to issue US$752.5 million of fund-linked notes. The face value of the promissory notes, bonds and other assets comprising the FGFL portfolio is US$1.311 billion.
WICL PORTOFOLIO WICL successfully litigated in August of 2013 a discharge of the ING/WIARCO portfolio of assets in Hong Kong held under a Temporary Restraining Order issued by the Hong Kong Department of Justice based on an Indonesian Government Request to confiscate assets under a Mutual Legal Assistance Treaty. WICL successfully liberated US$750 million of securities and US$10.9 million of cash. WICL is still in active litigation to liberate a further US$1.310 billion of promissory notes and US$1.5 million of liquid securities held by Standard Chartered Bank (“SCB”) as custodian for FGFL in Hong Kong and Mauritius.
WICL EXECUTIVE TEAM Michael E. Gagliardi (56) Chairman WICL, Principal, Co-CIO
Michael E. Gagliardi (56) is a founding partner and the Chairman, Principal, and Co-Chief Investment Officer of Weston International Capital Limited ( “WICL”). Mr. Gagliardi has more than 30 years’ experience in the Distressed Emerging Markets investing. Mr. Gagliardi brings to the WICL team an inspirational element which significantly enhances WICL corporate culture.
Prior to joining WICL, Mr. Gagliardi held high level positions in various organisations. He was the Chairman of Trust Company of the Atlantic LLC (1999 – 2005), Co-Chairman Board of Directors of Atlantic Advisors LLC, a SEC registered Investment Advisor (1999 – 2005) and Chief Executive Officer of HSBC Investments USA (2005 – 2010).
Mr. Gagliardi carries a highly successful legacy and reputation with him. He sold the Trust Company of the Atlantic LLC and Atlantic Advisors LLC to HSBC Investments in May 2005. He then increased the Assets Under Management of HSBC Investments from US$1 billion into US$14 billion from 2005 to 2010. In the process and he became one of the ten largest Emerging Markets hedge fund fixed income managers globally. In his early days, Mr. Gagliardi was the Chief Executive Officer and Founding Partner of Wasserstein Perella Emerging Markets LLC (1993 – 1999), Director of Emerging Markets Trading at UBS (1988 – 1993) and Fixed Income Trader, Emerging Markets at JP Morgan (1984 – 1988).
Mr Gagliardi was a long-time member of the Board of Directors of the Emerging Markets Trading Association (“EMTA”) and a past member of the Board of Directors of CAP Lease Funding Inc., a New York Stock Exchange listed company. He holds Bachelor of Science from Fairfield University (1979) and a Masters in Business Administration from Pace University (1983).
John R. Liegey (58) President & CEO WICL, Principal, Co-CIO. John Liegey is a Co-Founder and the Chief Executive Officer of Weston International Capital Limited (“WICL”), a Closed End Investment Company based in Mauritius. Mr Liegey serves as Co-Chief Investment Officer of the firm with Michael Gagliardi. Mr. Liegey utilizes a highly analytical investment approach for special situations and complex restructurings that emphasize long term value creation. He seeks to deliver results through rigorous credit research and litigation analysis, expansive global macro insights, and a multi-industry focus. This investment approach has been used to identify and exploit a diverse universe of highly stressed global credit opportunities across Latin America, Europe and Asia. In addition, Mr. Liegey is widely known for managing Emerging Markets currency and credit strategies through multiple economic financial crises, including the Latin America financial crises (1982, 1987 and 1995), the Asia financial crisis (1997 to 1998), the Russia devaluation and default (1998), the Brazil devaluation (1999), the Argentina default (2001), and the Great Recession (2008). Mr. Liegey began his career at Merrill Lynch & Co. in 1977 after graduating from Georgetown University in Washington, DC with a Bachelor of Arts Degree in International Economics (C’77). In 1979, he was promoted to Vice President-Capital Markets where he had responsibility for Latin American fixed income sales and trading. He joined William E. Pollack Government Securities Inc. in 1982 as a Managing Director with responsibility for the Firms Global Trading of US Government Securities. While at Pollack, he was a pioneer in the beginnings of the Latin American trading and asset swapping market. In 1984, he joined Dean Witter Reynolds Inc. as a Managing Director to head up its global fixed income sales and trading division. At the age of 30, he was appointed President and Chief Operating Officer of Morgan Stanley - Dean Witter Capital Markets International Limited and was transferred to London to oversee the firm’s international investment banking, underwriting, and sales and trading activities. He managed a staff of 3,000 professionals in nine offices and six countries. In early 1989, Mr. Liegey resigned from Morgan Stanley - Dean Witter to form The Weston Group LLC, an emerging markets investment bank and brokerage firm. Mr. Liegey was Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of The Weston Group LLC with responsibility for Latin American investment banking, restructuring advisory and fixed income trading from 1989 to 2010. At The Weston Group, Mr. Liegey created a leading global advisory platform and built a successful long term track record in restructurings and distressed debt investment strategies.
Jabir Udhin (28) – Director, Chief Operating Officer, Principal. Jabir Udhin is a co-founding partner and the Senior Vice President and Director of Weston International Capital Limited (“WICL”). He has an in-depth knowledge of corporate governance, compliance, regulatory and legal matters in a multitude of fiscal regimes. He has hand-on experience in estate, tax, legal and strategic planning and specialises in English Law documentation and litigation. Prior to joining WICL, Mr. Udhin worked for the Mauritius International Trust Company Limited, a publicly listed company on the Mauritius Stock Exchange where he led a team of professionals handling the investment portfolio of very high net worth individuals and renowned US and EU multinational companies and private equity groups from 2007 to 2012. Mr. Udhin possesses a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in International Business Law from the University of Central Lancashire, UK and a Bachelor of Arts degree (with honours) in Law and Management from the University of Mauritius. He is also a Chartered Secretary (ACIS) from the Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators (UK) and an Estate Practitioner (TEP) from the Society of Trusts and Estate Practitioners (UK). Mr. Udhin runs the WICL registered office and represents WICL in litigation actions in Mauritius.