The SEC filing said the Crown Property Bureau, which manages the multi-billion dollar assets of the royal family, had reduced its shares in Siam Commercial Bank by 3.33 percent on October 2.

That stake is worth 16.9 billion baht ($505 million) based on Friday’s closing share price of 151 baht.

The beneficiary of the shares was not specified but the move was carried out on the King’s behalf, the filing said.

The CPB, who now has a 18.14 percent stake in the bank, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The opaque agency does not declare its wealth but analysts estimate it manages between $30-60 billion in assets, making Thai royals among the richest in the world.

The CPB’s financial portfolio ranges from massive property ownership to investments in major companies, such as Siam Commercial Bank and Siam Cement Company.

Like all things regarding Thailand’s secrecy-shrouded monarchy, scrutiny of the CPB is curbed by a draconian defamation law that shields the royal family from criticism.

The transfers come after legal amendments passed in July gave King Maha Vajiralongkorn, who took the throne one year ago after the death of his father, direct control over a committee that oversees the CPB.

Under the previous law, the committee’s chairman was the finance minister, a move meant to ensure some semblance of government oversight.

The move was the latest in a series of steps by the new monarch to consolidate his control over the palace bureaucracy.

All media based in Thailand must self-censor when reporting on the monarchy to avoid violating the lese majeste law.

–

Source: AFP

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Former President Jerry Rawlings is seeking a perpetual injunction at the Fast Track High Court to restrain Professor Kwaku Danso-Boafo, Ghana’s ex-High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, from proceeding with the launch of a book the latter has written on Rawlings.

Source: Graphic Online

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Former President Jerry John Rawlings is sponsoring boxers, Braimah ‘Bukom Banku’ Kamoko and Ayittey Powers, to the Brazil 2014 World Cup to support the Black Stars, it has been reported.

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“As a politician, technocrat and professional he paid his dues in diverse ways and his loss is a national loss. He had his imperfections but he was still a rare gem of a man,” he said.

The ex-President stated that Mr. Obeng “was one of our [Ghana] most adept and captivating minds.”

“On behalf of Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings and the rest of the family I extend heartfelt condolences to his wife and family,” he added.

The late PV Obeng, as he is affectionately called, died on Saturday after a suspected asthma attack.

He was reportedly driving on the Spintex road when the incident happened but was rushed to the LEKMA Hospital where he died shortly after.

His body has since been deposited at the 37 Military Hopsital in Accra.

Until his untimely death, PV Obeng was the senior advisor to the President, John Mahama and the chairman of the National Development Planning Commission (NDPC).

He served under the Rawlings administration, that of the late President John Mills and the sitting President, John Mahama.

He was a mechanical engineer and a politician.

Click to read Ex-President Rawlings’ full statement

Rawlings on PV Obeng’s death 

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan

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In a statement, the ex-President stated that “Boko Haram has made its point. However making such a point at the expense of the lives of innocent people – men, women and children is simply unacceptable.”

He noted that “the ease with which various local activists perpetrated acts of piracy and kidnapping on the oil coast of Nigeria was the first sign of our vulnerability.”

Mr. Rawlings mentioned that “military might and force is not enough to overcome terrorists with conviction.”

“I am in the name of Allah pleading for the return of the girls back to their families,” he pleaded.

There is frantic search in Nigeria to find the over 200 girls who were abducted in a school in northern Nigeria.

They were abducted from their boarding school on April 14 but they are yet to be found.

The Nigerian government has given the assurance the girls will be found and delivered to their parents safely.

The United States, Britain and France have volunteered in the search for the girls.

There is also a worldwide campaign through which people are demanding the release of the girls.

Boko Haram earlier threatened to sell the girls, but in a fresh video released on Monday, the leader of Boko Haram, Abubakar Shekau said the children would be held until all imprisoned militants had been freed.

Nigeria’s Interior Minister, Abba Moro has however rejected the deal, saying, it as “absurd” for a “terrorist group” to try to set conditions.

By: Efua Idan Osam/citifmonline.com/Ghana
Follow @osamidan

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