Private Banks

With less than a week until the SFDR reporting deadline, client advisers and asset managers in Luxembourg and internationally are gently testing the water. From how to classify different funds and what to report to investors, the financial industry is progressing with caution.

Substantial governance-reform targets have been set for banks and investment firms by the CSSF. Some quick changes are required, but otherwise the regulator’s circular letter 20/759 seeks to drive long-term culture change on boards of directors regarding risk, diversity, and sustainability.

Quintet private bank is counting on an accelerated global recovery in the spring and is advising its clients to increase risk in the short term. The bank is overweight equities, especially those from the US and emerging markets.

With the recovery of the global economy that has begun and the support measures of central banks and governments, the climate is favourable for investments in risk assets, according to Quintet’s Bill Street.

Goldman Sachs has registered a new banking entity in Luxembourg this November. The new entity, a branch from Goldman Sachs Bank Europe in Frankfurt, will support the bank’s European business across the private banking, investment, and wealth management space.

The group’s Luxembourg-based entities have grown significantly in recent years, and now include a bank, a fund management company and a number of mutual funds and investment vehicles.

Bank Delen would like to do more acquisitions in the Benelux, says its CEO in an interview with Investment Officer. ‘The Luxembourg market is difficult though, because of the fiscal differences. So we would need to buy a local Luxembourg player with local clients. There are not many of those.’

The integration of Bank Delen’s recent acquisitions in the Netherlands is going smoothly, says Havaux. ‘The customers of Nobel Vermogensbeheer [which Delen acquired in 2019] have all moved to our funds.’

The withdrawal of economic support post-pandemic could cause a shock for Europe’s banks akin to the global financial and eurozone crises, reckons the ECB. How well prepared are Luxembourg’s banks for any potential future financial crisis?

Sustainability will be the starting point for Quintet’s discretionary mandates, says James Purcell (photo), the new head of sustainable management at Quintet Group, in an interview with Investment Officer.

European banks are focusing their innovation efforts on customer experience, a study by PwC Luxembourg has found. Though the study was conducted before the outbreak of the novel coronavirus, PwC’s Banking Industry Leader Roxane Haas believes Covid-19 will lead to a further acceleration of innovation in the field.

Private banks in Europe saw their profits decline in 2019, for the second year in a row, according to a study by McKinsey. Profitability is under pressure due to a combination of rising costs and lack of client growth.

According to the management consultancy, the study shows that private banks in Europe are confronted with structurally weak profit dynamics, growing dissatisfaction among clients and significant operational problems due to working from home.

The Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce (CIBC) has moved its European headquarters from London to Luxembourg following Brexit.