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New European foundation set to become one of the world's largest Established in 2006 by American businessman Maurice R. ‘Hank’ Greenberg, the new Starr International Foundation, based in Zug, Switzerland, is set to become one of the largest charitable foundations in the world in terms of assets with a possible endowment of $20bn, according to the Financial Times. This puts it the same league as the Wellcome Trust, UK, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, which have endowments of about EUR18bn and USD32bn respectively. The new foundation is dedicated to supporting a broad range of educational, environmental, artistic, cultural, medical, humanitarian and other charitable institutions in Switzerland and around the world. In December, it announced its first grants of $4m to Medecins Sans Frontieres, to support international humanitarian work, and $1m to various charities in Switzerland. According to officials, the foundation is expected to begin dispensing grants of at least $10m a year. Starr International Foundation intends to be a significant influence on the international scene. Sources familiar with the thinking of the foundation's leadership said it is open to coordinating its programmes with the efforts of the Gates Foundation and other big donors to tackle poverty and disease. [Source: The Financial Times Ltd.]