Anthony Parnes
Encyclopedia
Anthony Keith Parnes is a millionaire stockbroker who was involved with Ernest Saunders
, Gerald Ronson
, and Jack Lyons in the Guinness share-trading fraud
of the 1980s; they collectively became known as "the Guinness Four".
The son of a London gown manufacturer, Parnes started his working life as an office boy with a stockbroker. Parnes started at the bottom, working in the Stock Exchange as a 'blue button' at A. J. Bekhor Renton. He established a reputation for dealing with the big players of the fringe banking world. Because of his success his colleagues nicknamed him "The Animal".
Parnes built up the strategic shareholding in Debenhams for Ronson and Sir Philip Harris during Burton's fiercely contested bid for the department
store group. That stake helped win the bid for Sir Ralph Halpern, Burton's chairman, in a cliffhanging finish. The vote went in favour of Burton after the bid had been extended from the 3pm Friday deadline to the following Sunday in a special dispensation by the Takeover Panel. Parnes was a big dealer who acted for some of the biggest names in the share dealing business. After spells with stockbroking houses AJ Bekhor, Rowe Rudd and McNally, he became a "half commission" man with Alexanders Laing and Cruickshank. As well as having dealt for various clients, Parnes' relations include the former chief executive of the major British jewellery company Ratners Group Gerald Ratner
and the restaurateur Richard Caring
.
, he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years on charges of false accounting and theft
, but had his sentence reduced to 21 months on appeal.
Parnes’ case was that a reasonable man with experience in the City would not at the time have regarded what he did as dishonest. Guinness shares did not reach a price higher than was justified. He did not accept he had any responsibility to make disclosure to the Stock Exchange. The payments he received were for lawful and valuable services. He was not told that the arrangements he made for Guinness plc
had not been sanctioned by its board of directors.
Appeals by the Guinness four in 1991 and 1995 ended in partial success, as sentences were reduced. In 1995 Michael Heseltine
, the then President of the Board of Trade, lifted a government "gagging order" preventing disclosure of evidence in the appeals of defendants in the Guinness case. While this procedure was unjust, the court felt that it did not outweigh the prosecution's arguments.
The now deceased Lord Spens, a defendant in the second, Guinness II, trial, who campaigned for compensation after the charges against him were dropped, said: "We have tried for years to get the certificate lifted." He said that the Guinness appeal would make "Matrix Churchill look amateurish. In Matrix Churchill three men did not go to prison; in Guinness I, they did." He insisted that there was nothing wrong with the Guinness deal and says the DTI inspectors did not understand the rules of the takeover "game." Lord Spens said that the difference between winning and losing a takeover bid could easily be an executive's job and he said: "Takeovers are not genteel affairs, as the inspectors would have it. They are very, very serious, life and death businesses. Little has changed in the last 10 years. They are just called different names, the practices that went on in the 1980s."
Ernest Saunders
Ernest Walter Saunders is a former British business manager, best known as one of the "Guinness Four", a group of businessmen who attempted to fraudulently manipulate the share price of the Guinness company. He was sentenced to five years' imprisonment, but released after 10 months as he was...
, Gerald Ronson
Gerald Ronson
Gerald Maurice Ronson is a British business tycoon and philanthropist.-Career:Aged 15, Ronson left school and joined his father in the family furniture business, named Heron after his father Henry. The company expanded into other activities; in the mid-1960s Ronson brought the first self-service...
, and Jack Lyons in the Guinness share-trading fraud
Guinness share-trading fraud
The Guinness share-trading fraud was a famous British business scandal of the 1980s. It involved an attempt to manipulate the stock market on a massive scale to inflate the price of Guinness shares and thereby assist a £2.7 billion take-over bid for the Scottish drinks company Distillers...
of the 1980s; they collectively became known as "the Guinness Four".
The son of a London gown manufacturer, Parnes started his working life as an office boy with a stockbroker. Parnes started at the bottom, working in the Stock Exchange as a 'blue button' at A. J. Bekhor Renton. He established a reputation for dealing with the big players of the fringe banking world. Because of his success his colleagues nicknamed him "The Animal".
Parnes built up the strategic shareholding in Debenhams for Ronson and Sir Philip Harris during Burton's fiercely contested bid for the department
store group. That stake helped win the bid for Sir Ralph Halpern, Burton's chairman, in a cliffhanging finish. The vote went in favour of Burton after the bid had been extended from the 3pm Friday deadline to the following Sunday in a special dispensation by the Takeover Panel. Parnes was a big dealer who acted for some of the biggest names in the share dealing business. After spells with stockbroking houses AJ Bekhor, Rowe Rudd and McNally, he became a "half commission" man with Alexanders Laing and Cruickshank. As well as having dealt for various clients, Parnes' relations include the former chief executive of the major British jewellery company Ratners Group Gerald Ratner
Gerald Ratner
Gerald Irving Ratner , is a British businessman. He was formerly chief executive of the major British jewellery company Ratners Group...
and the restaurateur Richard Caring
Richard Caring
Richard Caring, is an English billionaire businessman of American, Italian and Jewish descent, who made his fortune in fashion, and latterly property and restaurants....
.
The Guinness Case
Parnes and others had supported the Guinness share price to enable it to merge favourably with Distillers. Described as "flamboyant" by The ScotsmanThe Scotsman
The Scotsman is a British newspaper, published in Edinburgh.As of August 2011 it had an audited circulation of 38,423, down from about 100,000 in the 1980s....
, he was sentenced to two-and-a-half years on charges of false accounting and theft
Theft
In common usage, theft is the illegal taking of another person's property without that person's permission or consent. The word is also used as an informal shorthand term for some crimes against property, such as burglary, embezzlement, larceny, looting, robbery, shoplifting and fraud...
, but had his sentence reduced to 21 months on appeal.
Parnes’ case was that a reasonable man with experience in the City would not at the time have regarded what he did as dishonest. Guinness shares did not reach a price higher than was justified. He did not accept he had any responsibility to make disclosure to the Stock Exchange. The payments he received were for lawful and valuable services. He was not told that the arrangements he made for Guinness plc
Guinness
Guinness is a popular Irish dry stout that originated in the brewery of Arthur Guinness at St. James's Gate, Dublin. Guinness is directly descended from the porter style that originated in London in the early 18th century and is one of the most successful beer brands worldwide, brewed in almost...
had not been sanctioned by its board of directors.
Appeals by the Guinness four in 1991 and 1995 ended in partial success, as sentences were reduced. In 1995 Michael Heseltine
Michael Heseltine
Michael Ray Dibdin Heseltine, Baron Heseltine, CH, PC is a British businessman, Conservative politician and patron of the Tory Reform Group. He was a Member of Parliament from 1966 to 2001 and was a prominent figure in the governments of Margaret Thatcher and John Major...
, the then President of the Board of Trade, lifted a government "gagging order" preventing disclosure of evidence in the appeals of defendants in the Guinness case. While this procedure was unjust, the court felt that it did not outweigh the prosecution's arguments.
The now deceased Lord Spens, a defendant in the second, Guinness II, trial, who campaigned for compensation after the charges against him were dropped, said: "We have tried for years to get the certificate lifted." He said that the Guinness appeal would make "Matrix Churchill look amateurish. In Matrix Churchill three men did not go to prison; in Guinness I, they did." He insisted that there was nothing wrong with the Guinness deal and says the DTI inspectors did not understand the rules of the takeover "game." Lord Spens said that the difference between winning and losing a takeover bid could easily be an executive's job and he said: "Takeovers are not genteel affairs, as the inspectors would have it. They are very, very serious, life and death businesses. Little has changed in the last 10 years. They are just called different names, the practices that went on in the 1980s."
External links
- Guinness Four fail in fight for acquittal, BBC NewsBBC NewsBBC News is the department of the British Broadcasting Corporation responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs. The department is the world's largest broadcast news organisation and generates about 120 hours of radio and television output each day, as well as online...
, December 21, 2001. - Daily Mail, December 21, 2001
- The Scotsman, December 21, 2001
- BBC, Friday, November 28, 1997