Investment Officer

The EU’s top category of sustainable investment funds - impact funds as defined under SFDR Article 9 - saw inflows double in the third quarter compared to the second, while funds that are considered mostly sustainable, or Article 8 ESG funds, continued to bleed, research insights by Morningstar show. The analysis also shows that more than 380 funds were reclassified during the third quarter.

Dutch investment bank Kempen Capital Management has reclassified three of its sustainability funds to “light green” from “dark green/most sustainable” ahead of increasingly stringent requirements that will take effect from 2023 under the EU’s Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation, known as the SFDR.

The European Union has reached a political agreement that brings the relaunch of European long-term investment funds, a type of investment vehicle known as Eltif, one step closer. The European marketing passports for Eltifs are regarded as a major business opportunity for Luxembourg firms. 

The Luxembourg Stock Exchange on Tuesday launched a new, simplified post-trade settlement model that no longer requires a clearing membership. The exchange has partnered with Italy’s BFF Bank to provide the new service.

The new model simplifies the post-trade process of Luxembourg’s bourse, also known as LuxSE. The change “allows for a more streamlined and efficient settlement of securities transactions made on a channel encompassing 21,500 tradable instruments”, it said.

Driven by new technologies, consumer expectations and risks, banks are increasingly forced to think and act differently, The boldness with which they embrace change in the time ahead will determine which scenario unfolds between now and 2035. “Massive changes are on the horizon.”

Despite challenging market conditions, PwC Luxembourg, the biggest professional services firm in the grand duchy, on Tuesday reported an 11 percent increase in net revenues for its latest fiscal year, pushing its turnover “comfortably’ past the half-billion euro mark. 

For Luxembourg, the consultancy firm reported a turnover of 543.3 million euro for its fiscal year ended 30 June, buoyed by 13.9 percent growth in advisory services, in particular for alternative investments. Assurance sales rose 10.6 percent and tax by 9 percent.

The future has never been more uncertain, and that has more to do with the climate than the business cycle, argues Paul De Grauwe, one of Belgium’s top economists. “Not inflation, but climate is the biggest challenge we face today,” he said. “The entire market system could perish.”

European Depositary Bank, a Luxembourg-based provider of banking, depositary and custody solutions part of the Apex Group, on Monday said it has been appointed by Mikro Kapital Management S.A., a Luxembourg-based alternative lender and a leading microfinance and sustainable investor in emerging markets, for the delivery of paying agent services for the firm’s new bond issuances.

Demand for instant payments, an area in which certain corners of Europe have lagged other parts of the globe, is, according to PwC, disrupting Luxembourg’s payments ecosystem, as well as putting strain on the existing infrastructure. At the same time, innovation in B2B payments the new frontier of payments.

These changes in payments and others are taking place against the hugely increased profitability of the Luxembourg banking market, which collectively recorded a 2021 net profit of 30.8 percent.

Jean-Paul Servais has been appointed as chair of the board of the International Organisation of Securities Commissions, or Iosco, the international policy forum for securities regulators. He will replace Ashley Alder, former CEO of the Hong Kong  Securities and Futures Commission who will become chair of UK regulator FCA in January.