Private Banks

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.

The income of Degroof Petercam Luxembourg’s private banking division has not been dented by the coronavirus crisis. To the contrary, results have been ‘above expectations’ thanks to a sharp increase in trading revenue, says its head Kris De Souter in an interview with Investment Officer.

Quintet Private Bank is planning to merge its European subsidiaries into one business unit based in Luxembourg. Approval has been requested from local supervisory authorities.

Contrary to the predictions of some that the pandemic will see a pull-back from globalisation, Jurgen Vanhoenacker, who heads the Sales and Wealth Structuring teams at Lombard International Assurance in Luxembourg, sees no signs of a reduced appetite for clients to live cross-border lives.