Tory donor suggests party should convene ‘special investigation’ into co-chair Ben Elliot

Published

4 years ago

October 4, 2021

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A Conservative donor has suggested the party convenes a “special investigation'” into conflicts of interest surrounding the Tory co-chairman Ben Elliot.

Mohammed Amersi, a telecoms entrepreneur and philanthropist, has also argued the party should improve its governance structures and remove Mr Elliot if he does not comply.

“[Ben Elliot] has done a great job in terms of raising money,” Mr Amersi said.

“If there are any lapses in governance… they can be easily structured and addressed. Then the party and the board has to see whether he is somebody who’s willing and able to work within those structures.

“If the answer to that is yes, give him a chance. If the answer to that is no, then perhaps invite him to reconsider his position.”

Mr Amersi and his partner have donated £750,000 to the party over the last four years, and has since met Prime Minister Boris Johnson and senior cabinet figures.

But he has raised concerns about the blurred lines between Mr Elliot’s personal, political and business interests.

As well as his role as the party’s chief fundraiser, Mr Elliot runs Quintessentially, a “concierge” service for the super rich.

He is the nephew of the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall.

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Mr Elliot also co-founded the PR and lobbying company Hawthorn Advisers, but says he is not involved in their day-to-day work.

He has been accused of soliciting charity donations in return for access to Prince Charles. There is no suggestion the future king was aware of this.

When approached at the Conservative Party conference in Manchester, Mr Elliot refused to answer questions from Sky News.

A Conservative Party spokesperson said: “Ben Elliot’s business and charitable work are entirely separate to the voluntary work he does for the party.

“Donations to the Conservative Party are properly and transparently declared to the Electoral Commission, published by them, and comply fully with the law.”

Clarence House has been approached for comment.

Politics

Securitize hires former PayPal exec as US tokenization gains traction

Published

48 mins ago

December 9, 2025

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Securitize hires former PayPal exec as US tokenization gains traction

Major tokenization platform Securitize has doubled down on its push to bring tokenized equity to US investors, naming a former PayPal executive as its new general counsel.

Securitize on Tuesday announced the appointment of ex-PayPal executive Jerome Roche, who led the company’s expansion into digital asset projects, including the PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin.

Securitize also said its tokenized securities are already available to US investors, challenging the notion that most issuers prefer to offer such products abroad due to local stock access.

“There’s been a perception that tokenized securities must be offered primarily outside the US, but our experience shows the opposite,” Securitize CEO Carlos Domingo told Cointelegraph.

“Clear regulatory path” for tokenized stocks in the US

According to Securitize, operating real-world asset (RWA) tokenization offerings inside the US regulatory perimeter is “not only possible, but scalable, at institutional quality.”

“We’ve demonstrated that there is a clear regulatory path for issuers to natively tokenize assets for US investors,” Domingo said.

“These are not synthetic representations, or derivatives, but real securities onchain,” the CEO said, adding:

“We operate using SEC-regulated infrastructure, including a registered transfer agent broker-dealer, and fund admin, which allows US investors to access and legally hold tokenized securities in a fully compliant framework.”

Securitize’s optimistic outlook on the US tokenization comes days after the platform obtained regulatory approval to operate as an investment company and a trading ánd settlement system in the European Union on Nov. 26. According to the company, the approval positioned it as one of the first operators for regulated digital securities infrastructure in both the US and EU.

“For the first time, modern ledger technology is giving us the ability to record ownership, settle transactions, and move value in ways that are fundamentally better than the fragmented systems we’ve inherited,” Securitize’s newly appointed general counsel, Roche, said in the announcement.

“Innovation only works when it fits squarely within the guardrails of applicable law,” he added, underscoring Securitize’s global push for regulated tokenized securities.

Securitize’s news is another sign of the US warming to tokenization. On Monday, the Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its investigation into rival tokenization platform Ondo Finance.

Ondo said the decision marks a new chapter for tokenized securities in the US, where they are poised to become a “core part of the capital markets.”