Sopiad aspires to reshape client interactions in ESG era
A university-sponsored wealthtech startup based in Liège, Belgium, is keen to make life easier for European fund managers that currently face sleepless nights. In 77 days, in the middle of the summer holidays, additional client suitability requirements will enter into force in the EU. It can change the way wealth managers interact with their clients.
ECB signals long path of eurozone interest rate hikes
Waving goodbye to what it calls “disflationary dynamics,” the European Central Bank on Wednesday sent clear signals that Eurozone interest rates will continue to rise for the foreseeable future after a first hike that could come as early as July.
In Flux: Europe’s own SEC
Luxembourg loves the new new thing, especially when it comes to financial legislation. The big question is: what should be next? The Grand Duchy may have found the answer already.
In the late 1980s, the Grand Duchy successfully tapped into global investment fund markets by becoming the first EU member state to offer Ucits-passports to international investment funds. Today, three decades later, more than a quarter of Europe’s fund assets has its home here. The country has even become a leading global funds hub.
Renell Bank silent on Merit Capital’s demise
Frankfurt-based Renell Bank AG, which publicly announced the acquisition of Belgium’s Merit Capital last October, remained silent on Monday on the demise of the Antwerp-based brokerage firm whose trading licence is being revoked.
Marc Renell, CEO of the German private bank, told Investment Officer that he is unable to comment. “I cannot speak about this topic. Go ask Merit in Antwerp,” he said when answering the bank’s general number listed on its website, before hanging up the phone.
Luxembourg supports single EU supervisor for markets
The European Union needs to establish a single supervisory body for financial markets in order to boost the development of market finance towards creating a true single European financial market and turning the widely-discussed Capital Markets Union plans into reality. “We should not hide away from some unpleasant truths,” said Yves Mersch, former ECB board member.
Wagener to retire as LuxSE chair, Grbic in charge at ABBL
Two of Luxembourg’s top financial bodies are undergoing changes in key leadership positions. Former Fortuna Bank CEO Jerry Grbric this month took over from Yves Maas as chief executive officer of the Grand Duchy’s banking association ABBL, while Frank Wagener, long-time chair of the board of the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, will retire in May.
Luxembourg AIF assets top 1000 billion euro for first time
Although growth in Luxembourg’s alternative investment funds market slowed in 2020, it remained significant, bringing the total of alternative assets managed in the Grand Duchy above the 1000-billion-euro mark for a first time, according to new data released by financial regulator CSSF.
Managing impact funds is a balancing act, says BLI’s Drui
Fund managers looking for sustainable investments can find themselves with incomplete non-financial data needed to make their decisions. At BLI - Banque de Luxembourg Investments, Annick Drui, manager of the 75 million euro BL Sustainable Horizon fund, explains how she is trying to strike the right balance.
In Flux: a bubbling housing market, Reifs and rising rates
If there is one economic lesson my father, a construction engineer, taught me, it’s that mortgage rates in Europe always follow what’s happening in the United States. When rates go up across the Atlantic, they’re bound to do the same in our part of the world. So when it comes to locking in a good mortgage rate, look west.
Lagarde's roadmap for rates draws a mixed response
As inflation persists across Europe, with double-digit numbers for some eurozone countries, ECB President Christine Lagarde’s road map for upcoming interest rates hikes drew a mixed response in the markets.
The European Central Bank on Thursday, in no hurry to raise interest rates while inflation pressures continue to build, took another small step on its journey towards higher eurozone benchmark rate as Lagarde repeatedly underlined the need for flexibility in the bank’s monetary policy.