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 <strong>Jeweller</strong>, “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 <strong>June</strong>. 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 <strong>2020</strong>. 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 <strong>2020</strong>
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