Raymond Frenken

Private banks in Luxembourg have seen their assets under management double since the 2007-8 financial crisis, according to a survey conducted by KPMG and the Luxembourg Bankers’ Association (ABBL). The report observed that growth at Luxembourg’s private banks in 2020 outpaced growth at their counterparts in Switzerland.

Private banks held 508 billion euro in assets at the end of 2020, up 9 percent from 466 billion euro a year earlier and more than double the 225 billion euro held at the end of 2008.

Luxembourg has decided to raise charges for supervising financial institutions by approximately 10 to 15 percent this year, according to an analysis of the Grand Duchy’s recent government decision. The increase was roughly 15 percent for banks, while investment firms were informed of increases of around 10 percent for 2022.

International financial regulators, considering lessons learned from defusing systemic risks in the banking sector, have set their sights on similar risk tools to reduce the systemic risks associated with open-ended bond funds. An industry representative claims that such macroprudential tools won’t work as regulators don’t fully understand how fund management works. The markets, meanwhile, have little faith that regulators can effectively resolve this daunting conundrum.

European wealth reached unprecedented levels last year and is increasingly concentrated among families whose capital returns continue to outpace flagging economic growth during the pandemic, said a new report by a Zurich-based think tank. Luxembourg, the Netherlands and Belgium emerged as countries with the highest density of millionaires in the EU.