A Closer Look at Sovereign Wealth Funds: Secretive Powerful Unregulated and Huge

The Abu Dhabi government is buying a 4.9% stake in Citigroup for $7.5 billion. UBS is selling a 10.8% share to the government of Singapore and an unnamed Middle Eastern investor for $11.5 billion. Two Middle Eastern government funds now own a third of the London Stock Exchange. Governments through investment pools known as sovereign wealth funds have put tens of billions of dollars into Western financial firms this year. But is foreign ownership -- or more precisely foreign government ownership -- really a good thing? Many experts think this mushrooming trend bears watching especially for any sign that these funds are evolving from pure investment vehicles into tools for exerting political pressure on the ”target” countries.

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