DOES anybody remember Joseph Lewis, the mysterious Bahamas-based investor who figured in the Telecom/Ballsbridge Site Affair? The Margin notes with interest that Mr. Lewis recently increased his shareholding in the London-based auctioneers, Christies International to 28.73 per cent. The shares are held through a company called Abel and Mr Lewis' shareholding is just short of that needed to trigger a full bid.

Telecom aficionados win remember that the inspector into the Telecom Affair, Mr John Glackin, concluded that Mr Lewis's shareholding in UPH, a company at the centre of the business, was either held in trust or on a nominee basis for the Limerick bookmaker, Mr JP McManus. UPH bought the Ballsbridge site for £4 million in April 1989 before selling it on for £6.3 million. It was bought by Telecom Eireann for £9.4 million in May 1990 and the rest, as they say, is history.