Legal

Family-controlled carmaker Suzuki has started arbitration proceedings against Volkswagen, as it aims to end its alliance with the German group by buying back its shares.

The arbitration, which will take place in London, follows Volkswagen’s “lack of response to Suzuki’s requests for the disposition of its shares” either back to the company or a third party, according to a statement issued by Japan’s Suzuki.

Prosecutors in France have launched an investigation to find out whether anyone exploited L’Oreal heiress Liliane Bettencourt, following the release of the octogenarian’s medical results.

Eighty-eight-year-old Bettencourt, who along with her daughter collectively owns 31% of cosmetics giant L’Oreal, recently underwent a medical examination to determine her mental status.

A way of keeping feuds at family businesses away from the public gaze might be by signing a secret pact. At least that’s what Gina Rinehart, the richest person in Australia, seems to think.

After battling through the courts her late father’s wife for 11 years for possession of the family business and estate, Rinehart is once again in court, but this time few will know what’s going on.

When somebody as eccentric as Liliane Bettencourt, the L’Oreal heiress, says she believes something, you might consider that a reductio ad absurdum of the position. Last week she, along with some other wealthy French people, said that the rich ought to pay more tax.