Daily Mail Defeats Future Baron Nathaniel Rothschild and Russian Oligarch in Court

Billionaire financier Nat Rothschild exposed his friend Peter Mandelson to accusations of a conflict of interest while the Labour peer was an EU trade commissioner, the High Court ruled yesterday.

The Swiss-based hedge-fund manager had launched a libel battle against the Daily Mail over his trips to Moscow and Siberia with Lord (then Mr) Mandelson and a Russian oligarch.

He claimed an article painted him as a ‘puppet-master’ willing to exploit his friendship with the former Labour spin doctor to impress his business associate, metals magnate Oleg Deripaska.

But he lost the case, and photographs of him, Lord Mandelson and Deripaska at an aluminium smelting plant, were ruled by the judge, along with other evidence, to disprove Rothschild's claim that the visit has no business-related purpose.

During the court case, a judge heard that 40-year-old Mr Rothschild flew Mr Mandelson to Moscow in his private jet and that Mr Deripaska’s office arranged an ‘informal meeting’ for him with a Russian finance minister at an exclusive restaurant.

The three men then flew to Abakan in Siberia in Mr Deripaska’s private plane before visiting an aluminium factory at the centre of an EU review.

Mr Rothschild had asked for very substantial damages from Associated Newspapers but a High Court judge yesterday rejected the claim and accepted the Mail’s submission that Mr Rothschild’s conduct was ‘inappropriate in a number of respects.’

Mr Justice Tugendhat said: 'In my judgment that conduct foreseeably brought Lord Mandelson’s public office and personal integrity into disrepute and exposed him to accusations of conflict of interest, and it gave rise to the reasonable grounds to suspect that Lord Mandelson had engaged in improper discussions with Mr Deripaska about aluminium. ‘

In his judgment, Mr Justice Tugendhat referred to photographs taken during the trip to the Siberian plant.

The judge said: 'I infer from the fact that Lord Mandelson accompanied Mr Deripaska, Mr Munk and Mr Rothschild on a visit to the aluminium smelter, and I find, that they probably talked about aluminium.

'There are photos of their party wearing Rusal’s jackets and safety helmets on their visit to the smelter, and standing with a guide, to whom they appear to be listening.

'It is probable that on a visit to an aluminium smelter and foil plant they talked about aluminium. It does not follow that it is probable that they talked about tariffs on aluminium, and I do not find that they did talk about tariffs.
The Daily Mail story from May, 2010

'Nor do I find that there are reasonable grounds to suspect that Lord Mandelson talked about aluminium tariffs.'

The judge dismissed Mr Rothschild’s assertion that he took the former Labour spin doctor on the trip as a friend and not for any business reason.

He said the financier gave ‘quite unrealistic answers’ when cross-examined over why Mr Deripaska would have obvious reasons for developing a relationship with Mr Mandelson.

Mr Justice Tugendhat said: ‘I cannot accept that Mr Rothschild was unable to foresee this at the time he invited Lord Mandelson on the trip. In my judgment Mr Rothschild did appreciate this at the time.

‘A holder of public office such as a Commissioner is required to make a clear distinction between his public life and his private life.’

Mr Rothschild may not have been aware of the EU Code of Conduct regarding commissioners’ official and private lives, said the judge, but ‘he accepted in cross-examination that a flight from Moscow to Abakan in a private jet is a great luxury and is expensive.

‘He accepted that he understood there is a general principle that people in government have to be very careful about taking substantial benefits from businessmen with interests that may come into their orbit of responsibility.

‘Mr Rothschild was well able to understand this. That is why he put so much stress on the fact that he and Lord Mandelson were friends as the explanation of why he was willing to entertain Lord Mandelson by flying him to Moscow, and then back to Brussels, on his own private plane....

...Rothschild: The playboy turned hedge-fund king

Even by City standards, the profit was extraordinary. In January, Nat Rothschild secured a £240million windfall from two investments worth just £24million three months earlier.

For the scion of the British banking dynasty it was another spectacular success to add to a fortune estimated in September at £1.13billion.

The Rothschilds have always been about connections. Their wealth derives from lending money and giving advice to kings, queens, emperors, even entire countries.

The future 5th Baron Rothschild is simply following in that tradition and Oleg Deripaska and Lord Mandelson are the more recent family ‘contacts’....

Continued at:
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2099254/Victory-Daily-Mail-Banker-Nathan...