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He is the art dealer to the stars, who has rubbed shoulders with celebrities such as Alicia Keys and Paris Hilton.

But now Andy Valmorbida is locked in a court battle involving a string of prototype Ferraris, artwork by Jean-Michel Basquiat, and a £17 million ($32 million) west London townhouse.

British art dealer Ivor Braka, Duran Duran frontman Simon Le Bon and Andy Valmorbida at a function in London in 2021.Credit: Getty Images

Luxembourg-based lender Regera Sarl is chasing Valmorbida for $US42.9 million ($63.4 million), claiming he defaulted on a loan and attempted to sell artwork over which it had security, without permission, according to court documents.

Valmorbida, in turn, has claimed in London’s High Court that Regera, and its associate company Fidera Ltd, a London-based investment manager, sought to take control of his assets at a knock-down price by blocking their sale and attempting to tip him into bankruptcy.

It is the latest twist in a legal saga for Valmorbida, the scion of an Australian business dynasty and a celebrity art dealer. In 2021, a judge in a Jersey court said he was “serially dishonest” and “evasive,” after being found to have created false documents to secure loans on artwork he did not own. Hassan Khan, a solicitor representing Valmorbida, said his client disputes the Jersey court’s filings, and that he did not act dishonestly. Valmorbida has never been subject to any criminal investigation or criminal charges arising from the matters concluded fully in those proceedings, Khan said.

Since first appearing in the New York art scene in the 1990s, Valmorbida has grown a reputation as one of the industry’s edgiest entrepreneurs, trading in artworks from George Condo to Francis Bacon. Born into one of Melbourne’s wealthiest families, he has been photographed with a string of A-list stars, and claimed to be the first person Giorgio Armani collaborated with in 20 years.

Making his name

The 45-year-old is best known for having secured the intellectual property of a selection of works by the late New York street artist Richard Hambleton. These have become embroiled in the legal battle.

The relationship between Regera and Valmorbida began in June 2021, when Regera made a loan of $US33.4 million to Valmorbida, allowing him to settle the Jersey case that was brought by a former business partner. As part of the deal, Regera took security over assets including a collection of artworks and luxury vehicles.

Valmorbida claims that the agreement meant he would sell properties in the English county of Hampshire and the Bahamas, along with his car collection and an artwork, Water Worshipper by Basquiat, to repay the lender.

Valmorbida is best known for having secured the intellectual property of a selection of works by the late New York street artist Richard Hambleton.Credit: Getty Images

But Regera has accused Valmorbida of defaulting on the loan. It said that of the 240 artworks given as security to Regera, including those by Hambleton, Valmorbida pledged 18 elsewhere — which were then sold. Regera also alleges that Valmorbida failed to notify Regera of a bankruptcy petition from Vardags, the law firm. Vardags didn’t respond to a request for comment.

In his legal filing, Valmorbida said these artworks had been erroneously included in the list by the professional art storage facility.

At the date of filing, Regera had been in the process of recovering $US9.5 million including from the sale of artworks and royalties, $US5 million from the sale of four Ferrari prototypes, and $US95,417 from a Hermes trunk.

In the filing, Valmorbida said he suffers from dyslexia and ADHD, and did not have the clauses and implications of the agreement with Regera explained to him by the lender or his solicitors. He has alleged that Regera breached its duties when selling his assets, by failing to take steps to obtain a proper price. He wants Regera and Fidera to provide him with an account of the legal costs and expenses.

“Mr Valmorbida has taken the litigation steps most reluctantly against a lender who he alleges has acted unreasonably and oppressively throughout,” Khan said.

A representative for Regera declined to comment.

Bloomberg

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These data, where all patients have had minimum 12 weeks follow-up, further supports accelerating the fostrox development program, and the company plans to initiate a registrational phase 2b study in second-line HCC in 2024.

Fostrox is an oral pro-drug, designed to selectively treat liver cancers and to minimize side effects. According to the company, it has the potential to become the first liver-targeted and orally administered drug for patients with HCC.

The latest data is from a phase 1b/2a open-label, multi-center, dose-escalation and dose-expansion study evaluating the safety and efficacy with fostroxacitabine bralpamide (fostrox) in combination with Lenvima in patients for whom current first- or second-line treatment has proven ineffective or is not tolerable.

Pia Baumann, CMO at Medivir, said, “Patients with advanced HCC, who have progressed on at least one prior line of treatment, is a difficult-to-treat population. Achieving durable clinical benefit for the majority of the patients with a good safety and tolerability profile, enables patients to benefit from the combination treatment longer. It provides us with added confidence in accelerating the fostrox development program…”

The company will present additional data from the ongoing phase 1b/2a study at the ASCO Gastrointestinal Cancers Symposium, January 18-20, 2024 in San Francisco, USA.

Medivir noted that Fostrox has completed a phase 1b monotherapy study, and a combination study in HCC currently ongoing.

In Stockholm, Medivir shares were trading at 2.82 Swedish kronor, up 1.3 percent.

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Bond prices moved to the upside early in the session and saw an additional surge following the Fed announcement. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, plunged 17.3 basis points to 4.033 percent.

With the substantial decrease on the day, the ten-year yield ended the session at its lowest closing level in over four months.

The rally by treasuries came after the Fed announced its widely expected decision to leave interest rates unchanged while also confirming it plans to pivot to cutting rates next year.

In support of its dual goals of maximum employment and inflation at the rate of 2 percent over the longer run, the Fed said it decided to maintain the target range for the federal funds rate at 5.25 to 5.50 percent.

The accompanying statement said the decision came as economic growth has slowed from its strong pace in the third quarter, while inflation has eased over the past year.

The projections provided by the Fed also suggest the central bank will begin cutting rates next year, with the median forecast indicating rates will be lowered to 4.6 percent by the end of 2024.

The median forecast points to rates in a range of 4.50 to 4.75 percent, hinting the Fed plans to cut rates by 25 basis points three times next year.

Following the September meeting, the Fed had forecast raising rates by another 25 basis points this year before lowering rates to a range of 5.0 to 5.25 percent by the end of 2024.

“Additional rate hikes no longer appear to be part of the conversation,” said Mortgage Bankers Association SVP and Chief Economist Mike Fratantoni. “It is all about the pace of cuts from here.”

During his post-meeting press conference, Fed Chair Jerome Powell acknowledged that rate cuts will be a “topic of discussion” at upcoming meetings.

Reaction to the Fed announcement may continue to impact trading on Thursday, while traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on weekly jobless claims, retail sales and import and export prices.

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The Fed is widely expected to hold rates tomorrow, with the spotlight squarely on the central bank’s dot plot and summary economic projections as well as comments from Chair Jerome Powell during his press conference.

The dollar index, which dropped to 103.49 after the release of the inflation report, recovered to 104.10 around late morning, but drifted down to 103.87 later, recording a loss of about 0.22%.

Gold futures for February ended down $0.50 at $1,993.20 an ounce.

Silver futures for March ended lower by $0.042 at $22.906 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $3.7875 per pound, gaining $0.0070.

The Labor Department’s data today said the consumer price index crept up by 0.1% in November after coming in unchanged in October. The uptick matched expectations.

Excluding food and energy prices, core consumer prices rose by 0.3% in November after edging up by 0.2% in October. The increase in core prices also came in line with estimates.

The report also said the annual rate of consumer price growth slipped to 3.1% in November from 3.2% in October, while the annual rate of core consumer price growth was unchanged at 4%.

Today’s inflation data has added to optimism about the outlook for interest rates ahead of the central bank’s monetary policy announcement on Wednesday.

Data on producer price inflation along with reports on retail sales and industrial production will be in focus later in the week after last Friday’s strong than expected jobs data forced traders to lower bets for U.S. rate cuts to May from March 2024.

The European Central Bank (ECB), Bank of England (BoE), Norges Bank and the Swiss National Bank are all scheduled to announce their monetary policy decisions on Thursday.

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The stronger-than-expected jobs data tempered expectations for early interest rate cuts by the Federal Reserve.

Treasury yields rose following the release of the report, as the data has partly offset recent optimism that the Fed could pivot toward interest rate cuts as soon as March 2024.

The dollar index, which surged to 104.26, dropped to around 103.75 subsequently, but climbed higher again, rising to 104.00, gaining nearly 0.5%.

Gold futures for February ended down $31.90 or about 1.6% at $2,014.50 an ounce.

Silver futures for March ended lower by $0.783 at $23.276 an ounce, while Copper futures for March settled at $3.8305 per pound, gaining $0.330.

Data from the Labor Department showed that non-farm payroll employment jumped by 199,000 jobs in November after rising by 150,000 jobs in October. Economists had expected employment to climb by 180,000 jobs.

Meanwhile, the unemployment rate dipped to 3.7% in November from 3.9% in October. The unemployment rate was expected to remain unchanged.

A report released by the University of Michigan showed a significantly bigger than expected improvement in U.S. consumer sentiment in the month of December.

The University of Michigan said its consumer sentiment index surged to 69.4 in December from 61.3 in November. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 62.0.

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Bond prices showed a strong move to the upside early in the session and remained firmly positive throughout the day. Subsequently, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, tumbled 11.7 basis points to 4.171 percent.

The ten-year yield more than offset the 6.2 basis point increase seen on Monday, ending the session at its lowest closing level in over three months.

Following an initial rebound, treasuries saw further upside after the Labor Department released a report showing a bigger than expected decrease in U.S. job openings in the month of October.

The report said job openings slid to 8.73 million in October from 9.35 million in September, falling to the lowest level since March 2021. Economists had expected job openings to edge down to 9.30 million.

The data helped reinforce expectations that the Federal Reserve will keep interest rates unchanged in the coming months and potentially lower rates as early as March 2004.

Traders largely shrugged off a separate report released by the Institute for Supply Management showed service sector activity in the U.S. grew at a slightly faster rate in the month of November.

The ISM said its services PMI crept up to 52.7 in November from 51.8 in October, with a reading above 50 indicating growth. Economists had expected the index to inch up to 52.0.

Meanwhile, Quincy Krosby, Chief Global Strategist for LPL Financial, cautioned that the nosedive by the ten-year yield over the past month could reflect an economy that is deteriorating at a faster than desired clip.

“If the economic landscape continues to decline faster than consensus estimates, financial markets will demand that the Fed begins easing quickly,” Krosby said.

“The ten-year Treasury yield should be monitored as keenly as it was during its upward climb,” she added. “A faster pace downward should similarly be acknowledged by what it implies—that a growth scare has taken hold.”

ADP’s report on private sector employment in the month of November may attract some attention on Wednesday as traders look ahead to the Labor Department’s more closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

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Bond prices came under pressure early in the session and remained firmly negative throughout the day. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, climbed 6.2 basis points to 4.288 percent.

The increase came after the ten-year yield tumbled by 12.6 basis points to its lowest closing level in three months last Friday.

Treasuries moved back to the downside as some traders cashed in on the recent strength in the markets, which came amid optimism about the outlook for interest rates.

The Federal Reserve is widely expected to leave rates unchanged in the coming months before cutting rates as early as March 2024.

Meanwhile, traders are also looking ahead to the release of the Labor Department’s closely watched monthly jobs report on Friday.

Economists currently expect employment to increase by 180,000 jobs in November after rising by 150,000 jobs in October, while the unemployment rate is expected to hold at 3.9 percent.

“Another weaker report, especially one paired with 0.2% monthly wage growth, could further fuel the belief that not only is the tightening cycle over but rate cuts may not be far away,” said Craig Erlam, Senior Market Analyst, UK & EMEA, OANDA.

The Commerce Department released a report this morning showing factory orders pulled back by much more than expected in the month of October.

The report said factory orders plunged by 3.6 percent in October after jumping by a downwardly revised 2.3 percent in September.

Economists had expected factory orders to tumble by 2.6 percent compared to the 2.8 percent surge originally reported for the previous month.

A report on service sector activity may attract attention on Tuesday, with the pace of growth in the sector expected to show a slight acceleration in the month of November.

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The Dollar Index, a measure of the Dollar’s strength against a basket of 6 currencies strengthened 0.44 percent to 103.21.

Data released just a while ago showed year-on-year PCE Price Index falling as expected to 3 percent, from 3.4 percent in the previous month. The core component also declined on expected lines to 3.5 percent, from 3.7 percent in the previous month.

The month-on-month PCE price index, which was seen dropping to 0.1 percent, from 0.4 percent in the previous month actually recorded a flat reading. The core component of the same reducing as expected to 0.2 percent, from 0.3 percent in the previous period.

However, bond yields hardened across regions and tenors, dampening the sentiment for the yellow metal. Ten-year sovereign bond yields increased more than 1 percent in the U.S., Germany and France while it hardened more than 3 percent in the U.K.

In the U.S., two-year treasury bond yields spiked 0.3 percent, five-year treasury bond yields hardened 0.7 percent whereas long dated 30-year bond yields climbed 0.4 percent.

Gold Futures for December settlement slipped 0.64 percent to trade at $2,034.00. The day’s trading range has been between $2,034 and $2,058. The 52-week trading range was between $1,778.1 and $2,085.40.

Spot Gold shed 0.49 percent to trade at $2,034.26 per troy ounce. The day’s trading range has been between $2,032.90 and $2,047.28. The 52-week trading range was between $1,765.32 and $2,080.72.

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Bond prices advanced early in the day and remained in positive territory throughout the session. As a result, the yield on the benchmark ten-year note, which moves opposite of its price, slid 6.5 basis points to 4.271 percent.

The ten-year yield moved lower for the third consecutive session, once again ending the day at its lowest closing level in well over two months.

Treasuries continued to benefit from optimism the Federal Reserve is done raising interest rates following yesterday’s remarks by Federal Reserve Governor Christopher Waller.

Waller said he is “increasingly confident that policy is currently well positioned to slow the economy and get inflation back to 2 percent.”

Traders have seemingly ignored comments from Fed Governor Michelle W. Bowman, who said she expects further rate hikes will be needed.

On the U.S. economic front, revised data released by the Commerce Department showed the U.S. economy grew faster than previously estimated in the third quarter of 2023.

The Commerce Department said the jump by real gross domestic product in the third quarter was upwardly revised to 5.2 percent from the previously reported 4.9 percent. Economists had expected the pace of growth to be upwardly revised to 5.0 percent.

The faster than previously estimated growth reflected upward revisions to non-residential fixed investment and state and local government spending that were partly offset by a downward revision to consumer spending.

Meanwhile, the Beige Book, a compilation of anecdotal evidence on economic conditions in each of the twelve Fed districts, said economic activity has slowed since the previous report.

The Fed said four districts reported modest growth, two indicated conditions were flat to slightly down, and six noted slight declines in activity.

Trading on Thursday is likely to be driven by reaction to key inflation readings, while traders are also likely to keep an eye on reports on weekly jobless claims and pending home sales.

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The National Australia Bank has posted a sharp jump in profit, despite its boss highlighting challenges in its operating environment, including inflationary pressures, monetary policy tightening and an uptick in delinquencies.

On Thursday, NAB posted a cash profit of $7.7 billion, up 8.8 per cent on the previous financial year, but slightly short of consensus expectations of $7.8 billion.

NAB boss Ross McEwan said challenges in the bank’s operating environment became more evident as the 2023 financial year progressed.Credit: Louie Douvis

The bank announced a fully franked final dividend of 84 cents a share, compared with 78 cents a share in 2022.

NAB chief executive Ross McEwan said the bank’s financial results had softened, compared to the first half during a period of economic change.

“Challenges in our operating environment became more evident as the 2023 financial year progressed with the impacts of monetary policy tightening and inflationary pressures increasingly weighing on households and the economy,” he said.

NAB grew lending in its flagship business bank by 9 per cent and deposits by 8 per cent, underpinning a 22 per cent rise in underlying profit in the 2023 financial year.

However, McEwan said the bank “took a more measured approach to growth” in Australian housing this year with a focus on returns, with competition in home lending partly offsetting its margins.

NAB’s net interest margin – a measure of profitability that compares funding costs with what lenders charge for loans – increased by 9 basis points to 1.74 per cent, which the bank said reflected higher earnings and deposits and capital, amid the rising interest rate environment.

Excluding one-off items, NAB’s expenses increased 5.6 per cent, which the bank said primarily reflected higher personnel costs, including additional headcount and salary-related expenses, along with investments in technology including fraud prevention and cybersecurity.

NAB’s collective provision coverage – money set aside for loan losses – was maintained above pre-COVID-19 levels. Its credit impairment charges increased from $125 million to $802 million over the year which the bank said reflected volume growth and deterioration in asset quality.

NAB said there were “higher delinquencies across the group’s home loan and business lending portfolios”.

But McEwan said while the Australian economy was slowing, “it is proving resilient”.

On Wednesday, NAB was the first bank to raise interest rates on its variable home loans and some savings accounts by 0.25 per cent, following the Reserve Bank’s decision to raise the cash rate by 25 basis points.

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