Laws and Regulations

The EU court ruling ending public access to European ultimate beneficial owner registries lays bare a long-standing political-legal dispute in society over what sorts of interests should be paramount: jurisprudence or morality. As Luxembourg awaits a solution on restoring access for professionals, Investment Officer spoke to a number of legal specialists about the case.

Ministers of the 27 EU member states have backed a proposal that makes it possible for countries to exempt banks and investment funds from planned EU rules that will require companies to report their impact on human rights and the environment. 

Luxembourg’s financial supervisor CSSF has made clear that it expects investment funds that commit to sustainability objectives will stick to these commitments. If a fund defines thresholds for specific ESG or sustainability investments, then it should consider these as a “binding commitments”.

BOS Wealth Management SA, the Luxembourg-based European wealth management arm of Bank of Singapore, has been handed a 210,000 euro fine by Luxembourg’s financial regulator CSSF for non-compliance with laws designed to fight money laundering and terrorist financing.

Europe’s asset management industry finds itself under a public magnifying glass after a team of international investigative journalists discovered that the most sustainable funds are still investing in polluting companies. Earlier warnings on possible reputation risks, also from specialists inside the sector, now echo loudly, but so does the observation that a lack of clarity in the current sustainability regulations poses significant challenges, both for the industry and investors.

Public registers in Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Austria as well as other EU countries set up under EU laws to fight money-laundering and tax evasion remain temporarily closed as legal specialists agreed that the ruling effectively shut down a key aspect of the EU’s fifth anti-money laundering directive. National governments as well as the EU are still considering next steps.

Following in the footsteps of the European Parliament earlier this month, the Council of the EU on Monday finalised the legislative process by adopting the Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive, known as CSRD.

Efama, the trade association for Europe’s fund and asset management industry, welcomed the adoption of what it sees as “a crucial piece of the puzzle”, but warned that the industry still faces years of uncertainty because of the “staggered” adoption between the years 2025 and 2029.

Financial regulators across the European Union next year will embark on a comprehensive review of costs that investment firms charge to investors for their investment funds. Claude Marx, director general of Luxembourg financial supervisor CSSF, speaking at the Alfi private assets conference on Wednesday, elaborated on some of the next steps. The industry, he said, needs to maintain its focus on efficiency, which also is in the interests of investors.

The European Union’s Court of Justice on Tuesday ruled that private information on the ultimate ownership of companies and investment funds registered in the Luxembourg Business Register does not always need to be made available to the general public. The court ruled that fundamental rights of individuals can sometimes outweigh the general interest of fighting money laundering.

To make sure investors are not misled, the European Union’s top supervisory authority for investment funds and asset management has stepped up its approach against greenwashing and proposed criteria for using ESG or sustainability-related terms in fund names. “The objective is to ensure that investors are protected against unsubstantiated or exaggerated sustainability claims,” Esma said.