Raymond Frenken

Ireland on Monday took a step towards challenging Luxembourg’s dominance as hub for European Long-Term Investment Funds, known as Eltifs. Ireland will have three distinct categories of these funds, distinguishing professional investor Eltifs, qualified investor Eltifs, and for retail investor Eltifs.

The European Commission wants to abandon plans for a mandatory, 12-month redemption notice period for the second generation of European Long-Term Investment Funds, Eltifs. Meanwhile, Ireland is getting ready to challenge Luxembourg’s dominance in the European Eltif market.

As its market value surpasses two trillion dollars, investment analysts praise Nvidia’s vision and operational prowess. The meteoric rise of Nvidia, the AI hardware manufacturer dubbed on Wall Street as ‘the most important stock in the world’, does have elements of surprise.

Amidst heightened regulatory scrutiny, Luxembourg’s private investment fund landscape experiences a transformative shift in valuation paradigms, a panel discussion on Wednesday made clear.

Brussels has opted to abandon the proposed establishment of a ‘European passport’ for depositary banks. While initially touted as an innovative concept, the idea was fraught with potential market challenges and risked undermining the work of supervisors. The alternative approach that has emerged now is being hailed as a success by Luxembourg banking association ABBL. 

Luxembourg’s financial regulator CSSF has updated its guidance for the crypto investment landscape, clarifying that only ‘well-informed investors’ within alternative investment funds can tread into the virtual asset territory.

Luxembourg’s lawmakers are making strides in proposals aimed at alleviating the tax burden on actively managed Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs), aligning their fiscal treatment with that of standard passive ETFs, a senior industry voice made clear on Tuesday.

In comparison to some other European countries, including Luxembourg and Germany, investors in the Netherlands appear hesitant to embrace the new generation of Eltif funds at the moment. Questions to private banks and wealth managers in the Netherlands reveal a restrained level of enthusiasm.

Imagine a groundbreaking European savings and investment product, open to all 450 million individuals across the European Union, supported by a harmonised tax incentive endorsed by every EU member state. Wishful thinking? Probably so, but maybe not.

Although fundamentals remain weak and carbon prices are half of what they were a year ago, market participants said a fresh round of global tensions could drive up natural gas prices and potentially trigger a short squeeze in the carbon market.