Stephen Evans

What is the outlook for taxing US multinationals under a Joe Biden presidency? Even as the noise and belligerence subside, some fundamental differences of view will persist across the North Atlantic. What can firms using Luxembourg as an EU base expect from the new US administration?

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?

Is the European Commission planning to regulate European corporate governance practices? Last week, we highlighted the on-going sustainable corporate governance initiative, which is exploring options at the EU level. Karen Wauters of the Luxembourg Directors Assocation (ILA) believes its members must have a strategy in the face of this process.

What will come next from the EU after the green taxonomy, SFDR and green labelling? Martin Spolc, head of the Sustainable Finance Unit at the Commission’s DG FISMA revealed a six-point roadmap designed to take ESG to the next level at Luxembourg for Finance’s Sustainable Finance Forum on 28 October.

There are less than five months to the first sustainable finance disclosure regulation (SFDR) deadline, and the next is just eight months away. Stéphane Badey, a partner with Arendt & Medernach speaking at the recent LuxFlag Sustainable Investment Week on 14 October, highlighted some of the key concepts.

‘Cod quotas traded for Mifid equivalences,’ is how Luxembourg For Finance CEO Nicolas Mackel humorously characterised how the on-going Brexit discussions might unfold.  He was introducing the Focus On Brexit webinar hosted by LFF on 13th October, in which industry insiders traced some possible future scenarios.

On-going high-level talk about reform of AIFMD and UCITS is generating nervousness in the European asset management industry. Was the 18 August letter on this topic from ESMA to the European Commission really about seeking to promote efficiency, or is it more a post-Brexit reckoning that could upset current successful arrangements?

Working from home has started to negatively affect productivity, according to Olivier Coekelbergs, the new Country Managing Partner of EY Luxembourg. He tells Investment Officer’s Stephen Evans how he is seeking to address this.

The creation of a single European electronic payments market is possible, but may be five to ten years away. This was a broad conclusion of the Focus On Payments discussion organised by Luxembourg for Finance on 10 September. What barriers need to be overcome?

With a warning against excessive regulation, and a call to action on green investing, CSSF director-general Claude Marx, made a typically colourful intervention at Monday’s virtual ALFI conference. He also gave some details of planned local regulation of teleworking arrangements.