City tycoon set to fund Euro exit campaign
HEDGE fund tycoon Sir Michael Hintze is believed to be considering a large donation to the ‘Out’ campaign in the run-up to the EU referendum.
Sir Michael, who has given £3.2million to the Conservatives over the past decade, is said to be thinking about giving a substantial amount of money to the campaign for Britain to leave the European Union.
‘I think he is almost certain to donate – it is a cause he is passionate about,’ one friend told the Financial Times.
Sir Michael – a former trader at investment banks Credit Suisse and Goldman Sachs – is on the advisory council of Business for Britain, a pressure group that is sceptical about the benefits of EU membership.
His son John is working as a researcher for Vote Leave, which is vying to be designated by the European Commission as the official campaign group for the Eurosceptic side.
Each side can spend only £7million during the official campaign. However, political parties can spend millions on their individual campaigns.
Sir Michael, who set up hedge fund CQS, is one of a number of City tycoons who are sceptical about EU membership because of draconian Brussels rules imposed after the financial crisis seven years ago.
But most big businesses are expected to back the campaign for Britain to stay in the EU.