"Saudi Ritz-Carlton purge 'creative and efficient', says Morgan Stanley boss", 24 January 2019

Speaking on a panel at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Gorman, CEO and chairman of the major investment bank, said businesses should not be dissuaded from engaging with Saudi Arabia despite the murder of journalist Jamal Khashoggi... When probed about the detentions in the Ritz-Carlton, where more than 200 of the kingdom’s elite were held until they agreed to hand over a proportion of their assets to the government, Gorman said he did not judge any country’s attempts to root out corruption... Though framed as an anti-corruption drive, much of the cash raised from the detainees has flowed into the direct control of Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman, according to the New York Times... Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East and North Africa director at Human Rights Watch, accused the WEF of helping to "normalise" recent Saudi crimes and abuses... “As if hundreds of the country’s business and media leaders weren’t just arbitrarily jailed – with some tortured, one killed – and forced to forfeit their assets in a massive shakedown of $100bn, outside of any apparent legal process.” [Refers to Morgan Stanley & Total.]