(credit: North Island)

The tropical oceanic climate of this small country presents the ultimate in barefoot luxury and a backdrop for an exceptional and unique destination. Located in the far north of the Indian Ocean archipelago, North Island measures at 201 hectares where guests are surrounded by turquoise water and breathtaking white sand beaches and warm crystal-clear waters, a dream island fantasy island that has come to life. Only accessible by boat or helicopter, the island resort attracts visitors seeking the ultimate romantic escape offering views of jagged peaks, vibrant green jungles and a wide variety of water-based and land-based activities.

(credit: North Island)

While the resort opened in 2003 and has gone through refurbishments and modern upgrades, the island was put on the map in 2011 as it was the honeymoon destination of the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge. Located amongst the granitic islands of Seychelles, one of its 115 islands dotted in the Indian Ocean, North Island is a place of exclusive luxury within an exquisite wilderness sanctuary. Comprising 11 villas, each measuring between 5,000 and 8,000 sq. ft., the villas have all been created from local materials harvested during the island rehabilitation process in 1997, balancing luxury and simplicity to make it your own sanctuary.

(credit: North Island)

Immersed in lush tropical vegetation and just steps from the soft white-sand beach, the villas offer each guest unparalleled space and total discretion. The villas balance serene comfort with the natural environment, as they are screened from view by the natural vegetation, ensuring total privacy. Presenting a mix of textures and handcrafted furniture, each villa has a private plunge pool, a butler and fully retractable doors with spectacular views of the ocean beyond.

The epitome of luxury is their Villa North Island which is perched on a granite cliff at the edge of East Beach. This grand villa is spread over one level and presents two bedrooms and a bathroom and features a hidden entrance through the adjacent coconut groves. Guests of this villa enjoy unmatched views of the beach along with an oversized marble bath perfect for sharing and excellent sunrise sights, adding to its grandness and romance.

(credit: North Island)

Beyond a luxury destination, sustainability lies at the heart of North Island’s philosophy and allows for an inimitable experience. With a true sense of place, the island employs full-time environmentalists to preserve one of the world’s most biologically diverse and important areas. Its Noah’s Ark program started in 1997. The ambitious challenge to restore the island following the collapse of the coconut industry in the 1970s has seen multiple efforts in marine conservation, forest restoration, sea turtle nesting and its Magpie Robin conservation local conservation program. Guests on the island can also meet Brutus, their 450-lb 160-year-old turtle which lives on the island.

(credit: North Island)

Guests who visit the island will have their own golf buggy to traverse the winding sandy paths from their villa to the restaurant or beaches around. North Island allows guests to live the idyllic island life with its generous list of activities, where couples can feel like they have the entire island to themselves. From yoga to aquatic experiences to massages by the sea to a number of excursions like diving, hiking and fishing, a day on North Island is pure bliss. 

The scenery at and around the resort perfectly positions itself as one of the most romantic spots in the world. Whether couples are celebrating their dream honeymoon or planning the ultimate beach destination wedding, the resort offers bespoke offerings that couples will never forget. A place of natural beauty and timeless relaxation, the calm rhythm of the Indian Ocean infuses the resort and offers guests a private place to rejuvenate their bodies and awaken their souls. 

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has urged top tech companies in the US to explore India as a destination for manufacturing and innovation.

He met CEOs of tech companies in New York a day after attending the annual meeting of Quad countries, which also includes the US, Australia and Japan.

India has been positioning itself as an alternative to China to attract global firms looking at diversifying their supply chains.

The country has been particularly focusing on manufacturing of semiconductors in the past few years but it still lags far behind major suppliers like China and Taiwan.

Modi’s meeting with the tech leaders on Monday was attended by 15 top CEOs, including Google’s Sundar Pichai, Adobe’s Shantanu Narayen, IBM’s Arvind Krishna and NVIDIA’s Jensen Huang.

Addressing the gathering, Modi said, “they can co-develop, co-design, and co-produce in India for the world”.

India’s foreign ministry said in a statement that the roundtable meeting touched upon technology’s use in innovations, “which have the potential to revolutionise the global economy and human development”.

Modi also addressed a rally of Indian-Americans whom he called “brand ambassadors” of the country and told the crowd of 15,000 in New York that India was key to “global development, global peace, global climate action, global innovations, global supply chains”.

On Saturday, Modi met US President Joe Biden on the sidelines of the Quad summit and the two countries signed several agreements.

The India-US semiconductor pact – which they have described as a “watershed arrangement” – aims to establish a fabrication plant which will produce chips for national security, next-generation telecommunications and green energy applications, said a joint release.

This is India’s first such project with the US in which the country will provide chips to the US armed forces, allied militaries and Indian military.

Previous attempts at building homegrown semiconductor manufacturing industry in India have not seen desired results. But as the US aims to build resilience against China’s semiconductor industry – vital for modern technology – the deal gives a renewed fillip to India.

The Indian Express newspaper reported that the plant will focus on “three essential pillars for modern war fighting: advanced sensing, advanced communications and high voltage power electronics”.

The two leaders or the joint statement didn’t make any mention of the ongoing tensions over the targeting of Sikh leaders in the US and Canada. Sikh separatist leaders, who have been demanding a separate homeland to be carved out of India for decades, say they have faced threats and assassination attempts by groups backed by India. India denies the allegations.

This was Modi’s first US visit since he won his third term in June and it came weeks before the US presidential elections, where the Democrats are vying for re-election against former President Donald Trump of the Republican party.

Last week, Trump had announced that Modi was “a fantastic man” and he was going to meet him. But Indian diplomats were quiet about this meeting and it hasn’t happened so far.

On Saturday, the Quad leaders issued a joint communique which focused largely on maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region.

“We strongly oppose any destabilising or unilateral actions that seek to change the status quo by force or coercion…We seek a region where no country dominates and no country is dominated – one where all countries are free from coercion, and can exercise their agency to determine their futures,” the statement read.

Analysts say the statement didn’t name China but a large part of the message was aimed at the country. They also noticed that the language appeared to be much stronger.

“The language in the joint statement on provocations in the South China Sea, while not directly referring to China, is stronger than it’s ever been before. And that’s because all four Quad states are increasingly concerned about the escalation in Chinese activities there,” said Michael Kugelman, director of the South Asia Institute at the Wilson Centre think-tank in Washington.

The Quad partners also announced the expansion of maritime surveillance, a pilot logistics network for natural disasters and a project to combat cervical cancer.

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Standard Chartered is taking legal action against several of its own investors, including a hedge fund run by DE Shaw, in what is seen by legal experts as a test case over the transition from the scandal-ridden Libor interest rate.

The legal battle, which is due to be heard in London’s High Court of Justice this week, could set a precedent for other companies’ investor payouts.

The dispute is over whether Standard Chartered can force through a change in the interest rate it pays out on its preferred shares, bypassing investor concerns, according to legal documents seen by the Financial Times.

Lawyers have claimed it is the first time the way a company moves away from using Libor has been challenged in the courts and the outcome could have far-reaching consequences.

Libor — or the London Interbank Offered Rate — was scrapped in June 2023 following years of scandal, including revelations more than a decade ago that traders from a range of global banks were systematically rigging the rate.

A synthetic version of Libor was developed to allow companies to transition, but this is set to be phased out this month.

Standard Chartered issued $750mn of preference shares in 2006 with an interest rate that was later linked to Libor. But the prospectuses did not set out what would happen if Libor was scrapped. 

The bank has tried to switch from Libor to an alternative rate known as SOFR, or the Secured Overnight Financing Rate, but has met resistance from its investors. 

Their lawyers are set to argue that SOFR, which is insensitive to risk, acts very differently to Libor during times of economic and financial crises, and is therefore an inappropriate substitute, according to documents seen by the FT.

Standard Chartered sought a consent solicitation from its investors in January last year over switching the rate, but it was denied. 

The bank then began legal action this June to force through the change. Several investors, including DE Shaw’s Galvanic Portfolios fund and three funds run by Boston-based hedge fund manager Bracebridge Capital, requested to be added to the suit as defendants.

The case will be heard over five days at London’s commercial court, starting on Friday, with a decision expected by the end of October.

Lawyers for the investors are expected to call on Standard Chartered to redeem the shares and reissue new shares with the updated interest rate.

Standard Chartered and DE Shaw declined to comment. Bracebridge did not respond to a request for comment.

7IM has upgraded its platofrm tools and functionality following feedback from advisers and clients.

The enhancements include the integration of software from ZeroKey, a web-app that enables advisers to transfer client data from their own tech stacks into 7IM’s illustrations and application tools.

This eliminates the need for advisers to manually re-key data, saving them valuable time.

The web extension also enables advisers to easily access their clients’ data, allowing them to move it to wherever they need to.

7IM said the upgrade is part of a multimillion-pound and multi-year investment into its proprietary technology and commitment to providing unrivalled service to advisers and clients.

It has also expanded its investment range with the addition of the Standard Life International Bond to the list of bond providers available on its platform.

This provides an open architecture wrapper giving advisers the freedom to manage their clients’ investments without being tied to a particular platform.

Last week, 7IM introduced Brooks Macdonald as a new DFM partner through the Retirement Income Solution (RIS) available on its platform.

Two new fund ranges will provide advisers with more flexibility as part of their centralised retirement proposition as well as offering clients greater choice through their retirement plans.

Russell Lancaster, MD platform and intermediary partnerships at 7IM, said: “As part of our ongoing conversations with advisers, we are aware of their frustrations such as a lack of integration between technology and this being a major cause of inefficiency in their businesses.

“We continue to listen and are actively addressing these pinch points by investing in technology to make their lives easier.

“We know that we must constantly evolve what we offer in line with adviser and clients’ needs if we are to realise our ambitious growth plans.”

Almost seven in 10 Post Office sub-postmasters have experienced an “unexplained discrepancy” on the Horizon IT system since January 2020, a survey has revealed.

It suggests faults remain in newer versions of the accountancy system still used by the Post Office, which has been at the heart of one of the worst miscarriages of justice in British legal history.

A poll of sub-postmasters by YouGov found that almost all of those who had difficulties with Horizon reported shortfalls in their accounts and most resolved them by using their branch’s money.

An inquiry into the Post Office scandal resumes on Monday and will focus on how the company, which is wholly owned by the government, operates today.

Between 1999 and 2015, more than 900 sub-postmasters were wrongly prosecuted after faulty software called Horizon made it look like money was missing from Post Office branch accounts.

Despite this, a version of the Horizon IT system is still in use in UK Post Offices.

YouGov said it found that nearly half of the sub-postmasters it spoke to were “dissatisfied with how the Horizon IT System currently operates”, compared to 25% who were happy with it.

It added: “The vast majority – 92% – of sub-postmasters surveyed reported experiencing some form of issue with the Horizon IT system in the last 12 months.”

YouGov was commissioned to carry out the research by chair of the inquiry Sir Wyn William. It invited 6,532 current sub-postmasters to take part in its survey between 18 July and 15 August – 1,015 people responded.

It also held a second survey regarding compensation payouts relating to the Horizon Shortfall Scheme (HSS). It found nearly half of HSS applicants surveyed were dissatisfied with the scheme.