Robert Fleming & Co. - Revision history

David: /* An "enigma": Military and intelligence links */

2010-04-27T20:07:19Z

An "enigma": Military and intelligence links

David: /* People */

2010-04-27T20:02:47Z

People

David: /* People */

2010-04-27T20:02:25Z

People

David: /* People */

2010-04-27T20:02:06Z

People

Claire Robinson: /* An "enigma": Military and intelligence links */

2010-03-30T11:42:59Z

An "enigma": Military and intelligence links

Claire Robinson: /* An "enigma": Military and intelligence links */

2010-03-30T11:36:20Z

An "enigma": Military and intelligence links

Claire Robinson: /* An "enigma": Military and intelligence links */

2010-03-30T11:12:33Z

An "enigma": Military and intelligence links

Claire Robinson: /* An "enigma": Military and intelligence links */

2010-03-30T11:10:36Z

An "enigma": Military and intelligence links

Claire Robinson: /* An "enigma": Military and intelligence links */

2010-03-30T11:10:07Z

An "enigma": Military and intelligence links

Claire Robinson: /* An "enigma": Military and intelligence links */

2010-03-30T11:09:36Z

An "enigma": Military and intelligence links

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 :For the best part of a century, Robert Fleming & Co remained in the investment trust business, says the FT.  Although it later moved into merchant banking, "it differed radically from other merchant banks", where banking was the core business.  Privately held throughout its existence, Flemings was always "something of an enigma".  The group published little information about itself and questions about strategy "met with the quizzical look of the classic British amateur".  But although it remained old-school in style, it was the "boldest and most far-sighted of any institution in the Square Mile".  Connections helped: the 1970 Jardine Fleming Hong Kong venture, which established the group in the Far East long before competitors got there, was prompted by the long-standing family links between the Flemings and the Keswicks, who run Jardine Matheson.<ref>Jane Lewis, [http://www.moneyweek.com/file/5899/profile-1612.html Profile: The Flemings] Moneyweek, Dec 21, 2005, acc 30 Mar 2010</ref>
-Another sense in which the bank was an 'enigma' is that it had strong associations with the British military, including special forces, as well as with the intelligence services. In 1992 [[Peter de la Billiere]], former commander in chief of the [[SAS]] and then [[UK Special Forces]], and commander of the British land forces in the Gulf war, was appointed a non-executive director of Robert Fleming & Co., a post he retained for seven years.<ref>Topaz Amoore, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/column-eight-bridging-the-gulf-at-fleming-1533405.html?cmp=ilc-n Column Eight: Bridging the gulf at Fleming], The Independent, 15 Jul 1992, acc 30 March 2010</ref><ref>[http://apps.hct.ac.ae/fot2009/thinkerDetails.aspx?un=32&spkrName=Sir%20Peter%20de%20la%20%20Billiere Sir Peter de la Billiere], unknown website, acc 30 Mar 2010</ref> [[Rupert Wise]], described in the ''Daily Telegraph'' as 'The banker with a CV out of a spy novel'<ref>Ben Fenton '[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/1502810/The-banker-with-a-CV-out-of-a-spy-novel.html The banker with a CV out of a spy novel]'  ''Daily Telegraph'' 12/11/2005, accessed 28 March 2010</ref> became managing director of its Middle East division in around 1984; and [[Mark Bullough]], who went on to co-found the mercenary company [[Aegis Defence Services]] with Lt Col [[Tim Spicer]], worked at Robert Fleming & Co. for 20 years.<ref>[http://www.aegisworld.com/management.html Management Information - AEGIS private security company], accessed 13 April 2008.</ref> [[Dominic Armstrong]] was Bullough’s deputy at [[Jardine Fleming]], the subsidiary of Robert Fleming and Co. in Malaysia.<ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Lz1PIfuk2HsC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=%22dominic+armstrong%22+fleming+bullough&source=bl&ots=5nIq9G9nMf&sig=w4JSZmMNPe-MmyuAUezcXX3hCUw&hl=en&ei=OLCxS_UrkojTBLuHwLcE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CBwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22dominic%20armstrong%22%20fleming%20bullough&f=false Malaysia  Business Law Handbook], Washington DC: USA International Business Publications, [http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Image:Malaysia_Business_Law_Handbook_-_Google_Books_1269936280395.png Screengrab], accessed 30 March 2010</ref>  Bullough and Tim Spicer had been comrades in the Scots Guards and had fought together in the Falklands.  Both Spicer and [[Simon Mann]], the mercenary jailed for his part in the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea, and de la Billiere had also worked closely together. So Flemings looks like a bolthole or temporary perch for intelligence connected/special forces people.
+Another sense in which the bank was an 'enigma' is that it had strong associations with the British military, including special forces, as well as with the intelligence services. In 1992 [[Peter de la Billiere]], former commander in chief of the [[SAS]] and then [[UK Special Forces]], and commander of the British land forces in the Gulf war, was appointed a non-executive director of Robert Fleming & Co., a post he retained for seven years.<ref>Topaz Amoore, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/column-eight-bridging-the-gulf-at-fleming-1533405.html?cmp=ilc-n Column Eight: Bridging the gulf at Fleming], The Independent, 15 Jul 1992, acc 30 March 2010</ref><ref>Higher colleges of Technology [http://apps.hct.ac.ae/fot2009/thinkerDetails.aspx?un=32&spkrName=Sir%20Peter%20de%20la%20%20Billiere Sir Peter de la Billiere], Dubai, acc 30 Mar 2010</ref> [[Rupert Wise]], described in the ''Daily Telegraph'' as 'The banker with a CV out of a spy novel'<ref>Ben Fenton '[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/1502810/The-banker-with-a-CV-out-of-a-spy-novel.html The banker with a CV out of a spy novel]'  ''Daily Telegraph'' 12/11/2005, accessed 28 March 2010</ref> became managing director of its Middle East division in around 1984; and [[Mark Bullough]], who went on to co-found the mercenary company [[Aegis Defence Services]] with Lt Col [[Tim Spicer]], worked at Robert Fleming & Co. for 20 years.<ref>[http://www.aegisworld.com/management.html Management Information - AEGIS private security company], accessed 13 April 2008.</ref> [[Dominic Armstrong]] was Bullough’s deputy at [[Jardine Fleming]], the subsidiary of Robert Fleming and Co. in Malaysia.<ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Lz1PIfuk2HsC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=%22dominic+armstrong%22+fleming+bullough&source=bl&ots=5nIq9G9nMf&sig=w4JSZmMNPe-MmyuAUezcXX3hCUw&hl=en&ei=OLCxS_UrkojTBLuHwLcE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CBwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22dominic%20armstrong%22%20fleming%20bullough&f=false Malaysia  Business Law Handbook], Washington DC: USA International Business Publications, [http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Image:Malaysia_Business_Law_Handbook_-_Google_Books_1269936280395.png Screengrab], accessed 30 March 2010</ref>  Bullough and Tim Spicer had been comrades in the Scots Guards and had fought together in the Falklands.  Both Spicer and [[Simon Mann]], the mercenary jailed for his part in the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea, and de la Billiere had also worked closely together. So Flemings looks like a bolthole or temporary perch for intelligence connected/special forces people.
 One person who apparently does not fit this description is the BBC journalist [[Frank Gardner]], who took over the Bahrain office of the bank after [[Rupert Wise]] and worked in the post 1986-95.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3782655.stm Profile: Frank Gardner], BBC News, 7 Jun 04, acc 30 Mar 2010</ref> Gardner has publicly stated that he rejected an invitation to join MI6 before he graduated from Exeter University.<ref>David Rowan, [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Shot+six+times,+but+I+won%27t+be+silenced%3B+BBC+correspondent+Frank...-a0133259526 Shot six times, but I won't be silenced; BBC correspondent Frank Gardner, just awarded an OBE, warns that the media must keep the terror threat in perspective], The Evening Standard, Jun 15 2005, acc 30 Mar 2010</ref>

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 ==People==
-*[[Peter de la Billiere]] | [[Mark Bullough]] | [[Frank Gardner]] | [[Andrew Roberts]] | [[timothy Steel]]'joined [[Cazenove]] in 1980 from [[Robert Fleming and Co|Robert Fleming]]'<ref>[[Media:Committed Capital - Tim Steel.pdf|PDF Copy]] of <www.committedcapital.co.uk/team/advisory-board/tim-steel> created 27 April 2010.</ref> | [[Alan Sutherland]] |
+*[[Peter de la Billiere]] | [[Mark Bullough]] | [[Frank Gardner]] | [[Andrew Roberts]] | [[Timothy Steel]]'joined [[Cazenove]] in 1980 from [[Robert Fleming and Co|Robert Fleming]]'<ref>[[Media:Committed Capital - Tim Steel.pdf|PDF Copy]] of <www.committedcapital.co.uk/team/advisory-board/tim-steel> created 27 April 2010.</ref> | [[Alan Sutherland]] |
 ==Affiliations==

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 ==People==
-*[[Peter de la Billiere]] | [[Mark Bullough]] | [[Frank Gardner]] | [[Andrew Roberts]] | [[timothy Steel]]'joined [[Cazenove]] in 1980 from [[Robert Fleming and Co|Robert Fleming]]'<ref>[[Media:Committed Capital - Tim Steel.pdf|PDF Copy]] of <www.committedcapital.co.uk/team/advisory-board/tim-steel> created 27 April 2010.</ref></blockquote> | [[Alan Sutherland]] |
+*[[Peter de la Billiere]] | [[Mark Bullough]] | [[Frank Gardner]] | [[Andrew Roberts]] | [[timothy Steel]]'joined [[Cazenove]] in 1980 from [[Robert Fleming and Co|Robert Fleming]]'<ref>[[Media:Committed Capital - Tim Steel.pdf|PDF Copy]] of <www.committedcapital.co.uk/team/advisory-board/tim-steel> created 27 April 2010.</ref> | [[Alan Sutherland]] |
 ==Affiliations==

@@ Line 36: / Line 36: @@
 ==People==
-*[[Peter de la Billiere]] | [[Mark Bullough]] | [[Frank Gardner]] | [[Andrew Roberts]] | [[Alan Sutherland]] |
+*[[Peter de la Billiere]] | [[Mark Bullough]] | [[Frank Gardner]] | [[Andrew Roberts]] | [[timothy Steel]]'joined [[Cazenove]] in 1980 from [[Robert Fleming and Co|Robert Fleming]]'<ref>[[Media:Committed Capital - Tim Steel.pdf|PDF Copy]] of <www.committedcapital.co.uk/team/advisory-board/tim-steel> created 27 April 2010.</ref></blockquote> | [[Alan Sutherland]] |
 ==Affiliations==

@@ Line 14: / Line 14: @@
 Another sense in which the bank was an 'enigma' is that it had strong associations with the British military, including special forces, as well as with the intelligence services. In 1992 [[Peter de la Billiere]], former commander in chief of the [[SAS]] and then [[UK Special Forces]], and commander of the British land forces in the Gulf war, was appointed a non-executive director of Robert Fleming & Co., a post he retained for seven years.<ref>Topaz Amoore, [http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/column-eight-bridging-the-gulf-at-fleming-1533405.html?cmp=ilc-n Column Eight: Bridging the gulf at Fleming], The Independent, 15 Jul 1992, acc 30 March 2010</ref><ref>[http://apps.hct.ac.ae/fot2009/thinkerDetails.aspx?un=32&spkrName=Sir%20Peter%20de%20la%20%20Billiere Sir Peter de la Billiere], unknown website, acc 30 Mar 2010</ref> [[Rupert Wise]], described in the ''Daily Telegraph'' as 'The banker with a CV out of a spy novel'<ref>Ben Fenton '[http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/middleeast/iran/1502810/The-banker-with-a-CV-out-of-a-spy-novel.html The banker with a CV out of a spy novel]'  ''Daily Telegraph'' 12/11/2005, accessed 28 March 2010</ref> became managing director of its Middle East division in around 1984; and [[Mark Bullough]], who went on to co-found the mercenary company [[Aegis Defence Services]] with Lt Col [[Tim Spicer]], worked at Robert Fleming & Co. for 20 years.<ref>[http://www.aegisworld.com/management.html Management Information - AEGIS private security company], accessed 13 April 2008.</ref> [[Dominic Armstrong]] was Bullough’s deputy at [[Jardine Fleming]], the subsidiary of Robert Fleming and Co. in Malaysia.<ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Lz1PIfuk2HsC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=%22dominic+armstrong%22+fleming+bullough&source=bl&ots=5nIq9G9nMf&sig=w4JSZmMNPe-MmyuAUezcXX3hCUw&hl=en&ei=OLCxS_UrkojTBLuHwLcE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CBwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22dominic%20armstrong%22%20fleming%20bullough&f=false Malaysia  Business Law Handbook], Washington DC: USA International Business Publications, [http://www.spinprofiles.org/index.php/Image:Malaysia_Business_Law_Handbook_-_Google_Books_1269936280395.png Screengrab], accessed 30 March 2010</ref>  Bullough and Tim Spicer had been comrades in the Scots Guards and had fought together in the Falklands.  Both Spicer and [[Simon Mann]], the mercenary jailed for his part in the failed coup in Equatorial Guinea, and de la Billiere had also worked closely together. So Flemings looks like a bolthole or temporary perch for intelligence connected/special forces people.
-One person who apparently does not fit this description is the BBC journalist [[Frank Gardner]], who took over the Bahrain office of the bank after [[Rupert Wise]] and worked in the post 1986-95.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3782655.stm Profile: Frank Gardner], BBC News, 7 Jun 04, acc 30 Mar 2010</ref> Gardner has publicly stated that he rejected an invitation to join MI6 before he graduated from Exeter University. The right wing historian [[Andrew Roberts]] also reportedly turned down an MI6 recruitment attempt.  While at Cambridge, Roberts was approached to join the 'FCO Co-ordinating Staff', a euphemism for [MI6]. He went through the selection process, but decided not to join. <ref> MI6: Inside the Covert World of Her Majesty's Secret Intelligence Service, by Stephen Dorril, Touchstone, 2002, p.783. </ref> He later joined Flemings too.<ref>Christopher Monckton, ''The Aids Report: An examination of public health policy on AIDS'', London: [[Policy Search]], 14 [[Tufton Street]], Westminster, SW1, May 1987.</ref>
+One person who apparently does not fit this description is the BBC journalist [[Frank Gardner]], who took over the Bahrain office of the bank after [[Rupert Wise]] and worked in the post 1986-95.<ref>[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/3782655.stm Profile: Frank Gardner], BBC News, 7 Jun 04, acc 30 Mar 2010</ref> Gardner has publicly stated that he rejected an invitation to join MI6 before he graduated from Exeter University.<ref>David Rowan, [http://www.thefreelibrary.com/Shot+six+times,+but+I+won%27t+be+silenced%3B+BBC+correspondent+Frank...-a0133259526 Shot six times, but I won't be silenced; BBC correspondent Frank Gardner, just awarded an OBE, warns that the media must keep the terror threat in perspective], The Evening Standard, Jun 15 2005, acc 30 Mar 2010</ref>
 [[Image:Malaysia Business Law Handbook - Google Books 1269936280395.png|thumb|right|400px|Screengrab showing the [[Mark Bullough]] and [[Dominic Armstrong]] worked together at [[Jardine Fleming]] in Malaysia.<ref>[http://books.google.co.uk/books?id=Lz1PIfuk2HsC&pg=PA279&lpg=PA279&dq=%22dominic+armstrong%22+fleming+bullough&source=bl&ots=5nIq9G9nMf&sig=w4JSZmMNPe-MmyuAUezcXX3hCUw&hl=en&ei=OLCxS_UrkojTBLuHwLcE&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=8&ved=0CBwQ6AEwBw#v=onepage&q=%22dominic%20armstrong%22%20fleming%20bullough&f=false Malaysia  Business Law Handbook], Washington DC: USA International Business Publications, p. 280</ref>]]