* Russell & Bromley, Monsoon also in building
By Henning Gloystein
LONDON, June 1 (Reuters) - Conoco Phillips (COP.P) and energy trading
firm Trafigura are among the big-name tenants in a London building
owned by the Libyan government where European sanctions now mean the
rent goes to the UK Treasury.
Portman House, on London's Oxford Street famed for its shopping, was
bought by the Libyan Arab Foreign Investment Company (LAFICO) in 2009.
Trafigura said that the Treasury's Asset Freezing Unit was operating
it in the wake of EU sanctions against various Libyan state-run firms.
"In short, the rent and accounts are overseen by HM Treasury,"
Trafigura said in a written statement to Reuters.
The Treasury was not immediately available for comment.
Along with U.S. energy company Conoco Phillips and Trafigura, fashion
retailers Russell & Bromley and Monsoon MSN.mGBP are also tenants.
In March, the European Commission and U.S. government placed
"restrictive measures" on LAFICO, which froze income and dividends
from some holdings in the European Union and United States.
The EC legislative document from March 11 states that LAFICO, also
known as the Libyan Investment Authority, is under the control of
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and his family and is a "potential
source of funding for his regime".
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Libyan stakes in European bluechips: [ID:nLDE72724Y] Factbox on Libyan
investments in Africa: [ID:nLDE7271J4] Libya oil chief defects to
Italy: [ID:nLDE75031M]
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
LAFICO subsidiary Kinloss Property Ltd bought the building from Land
Securities (LAND.L) for 155 million pounds ($254.3 million).
A spokesman for Conoco Phillips said the firm only dealt with a London-
based property management firm in charge of the building.
James Andrew RSW, which manages the building for Conoco Phillips, was
not immediately available for comment.
In March, the hotel division of Wyndham Worldwide Corp (WYN.N) said
European governments had issued an exemption from anti-Gaddafi
sanctions so that it could keep operating a group of hotels it runs
jointly with a firm partly owned by a Libyan government entity.
[ID:nN05288358]
Other Libyan entities subject to EC restrictions are the Central Bank
of Libya (CBL), the Libya Africa Investment Portfolio, the Libyan
Foreign Bank, and the Libyan Housing and Infrastructure Board (HIB).
(Additional reporting by Karen Foster in London and David Sheppard in
New York; editing by Jason Neely)
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