Private Banks

Luxembourg financial regulator the CSSF announced late last Friday a “reprimand” on a Swiss private bank named Banque  J. Safra Sarasin (Luxembourg) S.A. for failing to comply with Luxembourg law on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (the AML/CFT law).

Swiss private bank Banque j. Safra Sarasin, reprimanded by Luxembourg financial regulator CSSF in a public statement last Friday, has stated that the regulator had alleged no “actual money laundering activities”.

Luxembourg-based Quintet Private Bank on Sunday said it remains committed to its InsingerGilissen unit in the Netherlands after news emerged at the weekend of another major departure of one of its investment teams, the second such exit in the space of two weeks.

A Rotterdam-based investment team of four people representing InsingerGilissen, part of Luxembourg-based private bank Quintet, has transferred to Auréus, an independent Dutch asset manager that has been gaining scale through acquisitions and alliances in recent years. 

Former UBS director James Purcell has left Luxembourg-based private bank Quintet and joined Credit Suisse as head of sustainability. Purcell will report directly to ​​Credit Suisse’s chief sustainability officer, Emma Crystal.

After more than a decade at UBS, Purcell in 2020 joined Quintet as group head of sustainable, thematic and impact investments. At UBS he held similar positions between 2009 and 2020. His appointment at Credit Suisse took effect this month.

Unregulated alternative investments continued to be dynamic and successful in Luxembourg last year thanks to the modernisation in recent years of the Grand Duchy’s regulatory regime for private markets, consultancy firm PWC Luxembourg noted when releasing the latest version of its Observatory for Management Companies.

Accompanying Luxembourg’s finance minister Yuriko Backes on her official visit to Stockholm, Luxembourg’s financial community this week sought to strengthen its financial ties with Sweden, considered a “natural partner” for the Grand Duchy. Backes also discussed plans to support the reconstruction of Ukraine with her Swedish counterpart.

Travelling back to Luxembourg, Backes said on Twitter that her visit had been “very productive.” Backes was accompanied by a Luxembourg for Finance delegation and several representatives of Luxembourg’s financial services sector.

Luxembourg-based Quintet Private Bank on Thursday said that it has named Chris Allen as Group CEO. Allen, who spent the past 15 years moving up the ranks at HSBC, brings over three decades of financial services experience to the role and will take up the position on 1 July. His appointment is subject to regulatory approval. 

Belgian private bank Degroof Petercam, which has a significant presence in Luxembourg, has warned of ongoing uncertainty in financial markets as a result of Russia’s war against Ukraine, which it said “undermines financial markets”.

The bank has announced a strong increase in net profits for 2021 as revenue growth outpaced rising operating costs. The bank also announced that former CEO and head of private banking Bruno Colmant is stepping down after seven years. Sabine Caudron will take over from Colmant as head of private banking. 

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.