News

With the subpoena of Jerome Powell, political pressure on the Federal Reserve has taken on a legal dimension. The timing is striking: Powell’s term still has months to run, yet the White House is pressing ahead now. The stakes extend well beyond the fate of the Fed chair himself.

When United States forces seized President Nicolás Maduro of Venezuela, the political shock was immediate. The market reaction was not. Oil prices barely moved, investors stayed largely on the sidelines and attention quickly shifted from what had happened in Caracas to what it might reveal about how Washington now intends to wield power beyond its borders.

Interest in private banking was high last year among Investment Officer’s Belgian readers. The overview of the ten most read articles of 2025 in Belgium shows that readers were primarily interested in people, organization and the strategic challenges facing the sector.

Eight of the fifteen most read Investment Officer Netherlands articles in 2025 focus on developments at, and the ambitions of, the major Dutch private banks: ABN Amro MeesPierson, Rabobank, Van Lanschot Kempen, ING and InsingerGilissen.

Blackfin Capital Partners will become the majority shareholder of Arendt Investor Services in a deal valued at 500 million dollars that is aimed at accelerating the Luxembourg firm’s growth across Europe.

The United States’ pullback from COP30 raised fears of stalled momentum in climate finance. Instead, the summit in Belém, Brazil, this week signaled a shift in how governments and financial institutions approach nature as a core pillar of climate policy.

French assets came under renewed pressure on Monday after Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu resigned just hours after unveiling his cabinet. The selloff in equities and widening OAT–Bund spreads reinforced what economists and strategists describe as a new normal: a volatile, fragmented France where politics, not policy, drives market sentiment.

Open defiance from Stephen Miran underscores political tensions at the Fed, though markets still expect gradual easing.

Van Lanschot Kempen is preparing to enter the active ETF market through a new partnership with State Street Investment Management. The Amsterdam-based boutique, known for its smallcap and euro credit strategies, will rely on State Street’s infrastructure and distribution networks to launch its first exchange-traded funds within six to nine months.

ING Luxembourg has signed a referral agreement with Post Luxembourg to provide an alternative for its 4,500 business banking clients as the Dutch lender accelerates its exit from services for local SMEs, self-employed professionals and entrepreneurs.