Stephen Evans

Luxembourg is ranked third in the eurozone for securitisation business, and this is set for a boost when a long-awaited reform of the law is passed, hopefully in the first half of this year.

The global deal to impose a 15% minimum effective tax rate on multinational businesses could result is a substantial tax windfall for Luxembourg. National statistics office STATEC estimates €5.1bn of new tax revenue could result, equating to 38.5% of the country’s total tax take. 

Quiet optimism in the Luxembourg fund industry suggests that proposed tweaks to the ELTIF regime could unlock this concept’s potential. Wealth managers report growing demand for funds that can give clients exposure to alternative strategies, and new suggested changes could do the trick.

The reaction to recent European Commission proposals for AIFMD II reform from Luxembourg finance industry participants was positive. On the whole, changes have been kept to a minimum. For Luxembourg this means the alternative fund industry’s current business model does need to change, but the country will have to manage some more back-office tasks, and needs to ensure some more substance.

Luxembourg is by far the leading EU domicile for environmental funds, according to a new report by PwC. Assets under management in green funds in the Grand Duchy are greater than the combined totals of the next three largest domiciles for these products. This article explains why this might be so.

Goodbye to the UCITS KIID and hello to the PRIIPs KID for UCITS and retail AIFs. The European Parliament approved on Tuesday the legislation introducing the Packaged Retail Investment and Insurance-based Products Key Information Document (PRIIPs KID.

Global asset managers appreciate the framework provided by the green investing taxonomy and SFDR, even if more needs to be done to flesh these out. There is also awareness that Asia is central if global environmental and social concerns are to be addressed. These were some of the broad themes from the “Disclosure Regulations & Their Impacts” panel at the recent Luxembourg for Finance Sustainable Finance Forum. 

Does the green investing taxonomy leave the financial service industry open to charges of greenwashing? The “Taxonomy in Practice” panel at last week’s Luxembourg for Finance (LFF) “Sustainable Finance Forum” discussed the challenges and pointed to solutions. 

SFDR and the green investing taxonomy have been broadly well received across Europe, but what if other economic powers adopt contradictory rules? Some signs of action are emerging from global discussions.

The EU’s ESG investment taxonomies are evolving. Only certain aspects of climate action are currently taken into account, but work is on-going so that the environmental taxonomy covers more areas and will be applied in a subtler fashion.