Rinehart’s family feud back on again

Gina Rinehart at her Helen Springs cattle station.

The divisions within the Rinehart family aren’t done with yet as legal proceedings have reignited amid mediation attempts.

One of Gina Rinehart’s four children, Bianca, seems set to appeal a decision staying proceedings against her mining magnate mother for allegedly oppressive conduct in relation to the family trust.

Bianca Rinehart.

The 41-year-old daughter has just got the provisional nod from NSW Supreme Court judge Kate Williams.

Williams granted Bianca the right to vary her undertakings as trustee so she could file a summons seeking leave to appeal the 85,000-word decision handed down three months ago by Chief Justice in equity Julie Ward.

“In all circumstances, I am satisfied that it is appropriate that the trustee undertaking be varied in the manner provided for, to preserve the ability to prosecute the leave to appeal in the event that judicial advice says it is justified in doing so,” Justice Williams said.

The family has been feuding publicly since 2011.

In 2015, Gina resigned from her role as trustee of the Hope Margaret Hancock Trust, (HMH) with Bianca, her eldest daughter, given control by judge Paul Brereton.

The trust contains a 24 per cent shareholding in Hancock Prospecting, founded by Gina’s late father Lang Hancock in 1955. Her fortune was estimated at $16.25bn and in second place in John Stensholt’s 2020 edition of The List: Australia’s Richest 250, published in The Weekend Australian in March.

The permission to file the summons was granted on the condition that Bianca not prosecute until she receives judicial advice, in accordance with her obligations as trustee.

Chief Justice Ward had previously ordered the Rinehart family to enter mediation, saying it was “overwhelmingly in the interests of the administration of justice” to seek an end to the long-running dispute between Gina, Hancock Prospecting and the four children, Bianca, John Hancock, Hope Welker and Ginia Rinehart, who are the beneficiaries of the HMH Trust.

Bianca was represented by David Thomas SC, being instructed by Yeldham Price O’Brien Lusk.

Italian honour

Sydney investment banker Simon Mordant has received a knighthood in the Order of the Star of Italy. On his next vacanza to Italy, he will be known as Cavaliere dell’Ordine della Stella d’Italia Simon Mordant, or Cav. Simon Mordant for short.

Apparently Simon’s not that fluent, but wife Catriona is.

The civilian honour for the Luminis Investment Partners executive co-chairman was confirmed yesterday in diplomatic cycles, with the latest recipients signed off by President Sergio Mattarella on the nomination of Foreign Affairs Minister Luigi Di Maio.

Mordant, who has been visiting Italy since he was a little boy, owns a farm above the shore of Lake Trasimen, Umbria. The house dates back to the 10th century when it was a watchtower for real knights in battles perhaps between the marauding Magyars and the Byzantines.

No suit of armour required these days by the Italophile, who wears a lot of Prada and Gucci … and enjoys a low-carb salade de caprese con prosecco.

Margin Call assumes it was his work in Venice that brought him to the attention of the Italian President. Mordant was at the forefront of the Australian Biennale pavilion, which on its 2015 completion was the only 21st century building in Venice. Mordant had a who’s who of the Australian arts mafia donate to construction of the Denton Corker Marshall-designed waterfront building.

There’s also his ongoing board role at the American Academy in Rome and advisory board role at Venetian Heritage in Venice.

The most recent Australian knighthood was for Lyndon Terracini at Opera Australia two years ago, with earlier recipients having included Carla Zampatti, Nicolas Cage, Greta Scacchi and Elda Stiebel. Margin Call seem to recollect Edmond Capon and John Borghetti, the former Virgin Airlines boss, getting one too.

The Order of the Star of Italy has been awarded since 2011 to acknowledge the promotion of national prestige abroad, promoting friendly relations and ties with Italy.

Cin Cin.

Illustration: Rod Clement

Bankers on the move

The investment bank rumour mill went into overdrive on Thursday about whether UBS stalwart and head of Australian distribution George Kanaan was preparing to jump ship.

Kanaan is renowned for being the block trade specialist in the local market. He joined UBS in 2005 after stints at JPMorgan and Credit Suisse.

Kanaan’s lieutenant and institutional trader, Tim Aurel-Smith, was also linked to talk that the duo could be headed elsewhere.

Adding fuel to the fire was the fact that both Kanaan and Aurel-Smith were offline from Bloomberg on Thursday.

Neither have resigned but in a fluid investment banking landscape, it appears they are keen to keep their options open.

One option for Kanaan and Aurel-Smith is to join past colleagues and former UBS bigwigs Matthew Grounds and Guy Fowler. They are said to be planning to partner with Magellan Financial Group to start a new boutique.

Prominent UBS equity markets operative Robbie Vanderzeil is also about to start a separate new shop with his former UBS colleagues John Spencer and Sarah Rennie. They are joining New Zealand boutique Jarden.

Pyne doing fine

Whoever said not much happens in the City of Churches clearly never crossed paths with Christopher Pyne.

The former defence minister and retired pollie is carving out quite the niche in the South Australian capital since launching his Pyne & Partners consultancy in November last year.

Less than six months later, Pyne has managed to amass a who’s who of SA corporates.

The private equity firm Fusion Capital-owned local bus maker Bustech has called on Pyne, who is chair of his eponymous firm, to look after its interests, as has boutique investment bank Enterprise Corporation.

Shortly after Pyne retired from politics ahead of the 2019 election, he was embroiled in controversy over his new role with accounting firm Ernst and Young.

That matter escalated to a Senate inquiry, with the former minister (and his old cabinet colleague Julie Bishop on related matters) cleared of any wrongdoing.

Pyne & Partners also boasts Pyne’s former chief of staff Adam Howard as managing director and former political staffer Cristian De Julio as associate. Oddly, we can’t see whether there are any other “partners” alongside the chair.

Maybe that will come in a bit more time.

Other clients include agriculture asset manager Duxton Capital Hospital and leading SA property development company Prime Space Projects.

Life after Canberra never seemed so good.

Virtual justice

The Australian economy may have ground to a halt in recent months, but the wheels of justice continue to turn for alleged National Australia Bank fraudsters Helen Rosamond and Rosemary Rogers.

The pair are set to return to the NSW District Court before the end of the month, with the COVID-19 lockdown providing no respite from their tangle with the law.

Rogers was the Melbourne-based chief of staff to former NAB chief executive Andrew Thorburn, while Rosamond was a contractor to the bank via her Human Group events and human resources company.

Rosamond was allegedly behind a scheme that paid Rogers dozens of secret commissions between 2013 and 2017.

As Thorburn’s COS, Rogers, who last month pleaded guilty to a string of charges that she defrauded the bank of millions of dollars, used her senior position to approve inflated invoices submitted to NAB for services provided by Rosamond’s company.

Rogers, who is on bail and living at her home in Victoria’s Bellbrae near Bells Beach, will be back at the Downing Centre on May 22. She is awaiting sentencing after she pleaded guilty to dishonestly obtaining financial benefit by deception on over $14.3m worth of invoices.

Rosamond will be before the same court a week later on May 29. There remains the potential for Rogers to be called as a witness in Rosamond’s trial.

COVID-19 means the District Court is limiting the need for people to attend in person, instead connecting with the likes of Rosamond and Rogers via its “virtual courtroom”, removing the need for the pair to turn up in person.

Jury trials are set to resume in mid-June, so that at Rosamond and Rogers’ respective upcoming Monday trial call-overs we, like NAB shareholders, will be watching with interest.