Jeweller - June, Edition II 2020

News
Local opal supplier conducts
webinar to more than 7,000
FF Group liquidates Asian operations
Damien Cody, director Cody Opal, recently hosted a webinar
which was viewed by more than 7,400 retailers and wholesalers
in China and was held by Shenzen’s Guild Institute of Gemology.
A recent international webinar conducted by Cody Opals,
in conjunction with the Guild Institute of Gemology
(‘Guild’) in Shenzhen, had more than 7,400 participants.
The webinar was hosted through the WeChat social
media app and was virtually ‘attended’ by coloured
gemstone retailers and wholesalers in China who had
undertaken studies with Guild.
Following the liquidation of FF Group (Asia), Folli Follie and Links of London Hong Kong stores have closed.
Damien Cody, director Cody Opal, told Jeweller, “The
webinar was a wonderful opportunity to promote the
virtues of Australian opal to a largely new audience. The
viewers were mostly graduate students of gemmology
and the information they received will help them have
more confidence when working with Australian opal.”
For Cody Opal, the webinar represented an opportunity
to inform and promote Australian opals rather than sell
products directly. “This webinar forms part of a body
of work we have been doing in China, which includes
lectures, exhibitions, fashions shows and trade fairs,”
Cody explained.
Ruby Liu, president Guild, said, “The viewers were
very interested in grading, treatments, and market
conditions. The audience continued to ask hundreds of
questions for almost two hours, with some 1,500 people
remaining in the chat room.”
“Due to the convenience of the internet, the audience
can join the live broadcast from all over China. Guild has
an excellent social media team of young people and they
have built a strong following for Guild on WeChat. Most
of the industry in China is younger than other markets,
with a large percentage in their thirties,” Liu added.
Cody noted that there were no challenges other
than the need to translate and the time difference,
adding, “To have a very large captive audience is
extraordinary and the value for the Australian opal
industry is immeasurable.”
Australia supplies 95 per cent of the world’s precious
opal, according to Geoscience Australia. Chinese
demand for high-grade Australian opal surged in 2016,
and a new Australian Opals Pavilion was established
at last year’s Hong Kong International Diamond, Gem
& Pearl Show.
Greek jewellery and accessories company
FF Group has appointed Deloitte China to
liquidate its Asian operations, with stores
in Hong Kong, Mainland China, Japan and
Australia affected.
As a result of the liquidation, five Folli Follie
stores and seven Links of London locations in
Hong Kong were closed on 9 June.
Derek Lai, vice-chairman Deloitte China,
said the closure would affect 60 employees,
adding, “We have seen more retailers file for
liquidation recently. We will handle Hong Kong
first; for stores in other areas, we will see if
there are any buyers.”
FF Group operates three Folli Follie stores in
Australia, located at DFO South Wharf and
Chadstone in Melbourne, and the Queen
Victoria Building in Sydney.
At the time of publication, the Folli Follie
Hong Kong and Taiwan websites remained
operational, though websites for Japan and
China displayed an ‘Under Construction’
message. There is no dedicated website for
Folli Follie Australia. The Links Of London
International, Japan, China, and Hong Kong
websites all displayed the same ‘Under
Construction’ message; only its Greek website
remained operational.
FF Group, which was founded in Athens in
1982, has been embroiled in controversy since
2017, when an internal audit found revenue
had been overstated by up to $US1 billion
($AU1.45 billion) – largely concentrated in its
Asian operations.
Links of London UK, a subsidiary of FF
Group, was placed into administration in
October 2019 and was wound up in January
2020. Links of London US filed for Chapter
7 bankruptcy, which is roughly equivalent to
liquidation under Australian law, in 2018.
Greek authorities have since laid a range of
charges against senior FF Group executives
and board members, including fraud, money
laundering, creating a criminal organisation,
forgery, and manipulating stock market
prices.
Among those charged was founder Dimitris
Koutsolioutsos, who resigned from the
company in 2017. Koutsolioutsos retains a
35 per cent stake in the business, while a
further 16.4 per cent is controlled by Chinese
conglomerate Fosun International, according
to data from Refinitiv.
According to a report in the South
China Morning Post, FF Group recently
underwent a €300 million ($AU492 million)
debt restructuring and narrowly avoided
bankruptcy in February.
18 | February 2020