Marc Clapasson active investor in SMEs & Real Estate as well as founding partner of the investment platform: Layer Finance has shown intention to invest €2 billions of investor money into the Serbian market has raised eyebrows, considering his last firm Ruvercap Investment AG, was a fraud. Clapasson announced this mega-investment during a meeting with Minister of Economy Radet Basta of Serbia.
Ministarstvo privrede/Zoran Vujasnović | Pic From: rs.bloombergadria.comRuvercap Investment AG collapse was considered the biggest fraud in Swiss finance history, resulting in significant losses for investors. It’s no surprise that his new venture is being viewed with skepticism, given his previous track record. However, it’s worth examining the reasons behind the failure of his previous firm.
One significant factor contributing to Ruvercap Investment AG’s downfall was his inadequate knowledge of investing. This lack of expertise led to the company making poor investment decisions, which ultimately resulted in significant losses. In hindsight, it’s clear that he was not well-versed in the intricacies of investing, and this lack of knowledge proved to be a significant disadvantage for the firm.
RuverCap Financing/Investing in Serbia
In November 2019, the auditing company KPMG was supposed to examine the Ruvercap Investment network and raised doubts about the various “sourcing engines” and the companies they financed under Jon Tunes & Marc Clapasson leadership.
It is unclear whether there is the promised cash flow or the collateral, the auditing company said. According to the KPMG report, one of these sourcers was Lavaux Capital in Romandy, which had financed a fertilizer manufacturer in South Africa. This in turn delivered to a customer in Zimbabwe. Because the foreign exchange ran out there, the customer stopped making payments, which in turn affected the credit instruments.
Another sourcing firm that KPMG mentions by name is Batagon[Ruvercap suspicious investment]. This bought a battery company in Serbia in December for €7.35 million. However, the corresponding loan instrument was valued at €63.7 million in September 2019. KPMG writes that it is unclear whether all funds from the loan were used to buy the battery company.
Another critical factor contributing to the failure of Ruvercap Investment AG was the lack of transparency in the company’s operations. Investors were not adequately informed about the firm’s investment decisions, which created uncertainty and mistrust among them. The lack of transparency was so severe that the funds were frozen, causing significant financial losses for investors.
Given these factors, it’s understandable that his new venture GapBridge AG is being viewed with skepticism. However, he should learn from his past failures and ensure transparency in his new venture but sadly that is not the case write now. The Serbian market is an emerging market with significant potential, and experience expertise/investors could help unlock its full potential.